The Chicago Bulls' 2016-17 season was 10 times more terrible than their 41-41 record suggests. It represented an organizational arrogance that bordered on insulting to those who are old enough to remember when the team was genuinely great and those who pay even a modest amount of attention to the way the modern game is played. Jimmy Butler played like an MVP candidate and Robin Lopez was a star in his role, but their work was overshadowed by the doomed partnership of veterans Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo, predictable locker-room turmoil and roster composition that never made the slightest bit of sense.

Let's say for a second that you're a Bulls fan. What would you want from your favorite team this summer?

I'd probably start with some sort of acknowledgment, on the record or not, that this past season was a mistake. That they took risks on big names with championship experience at the expense of on-court fit. That they have not provided Butler with the kind of teammates that can make the most of his skill set.

Beyond that, I'd want a clear message that next season will be different, that they will have some sort of plan, that they might even revisit the idea of giving coach Fred Hoiberg players with room for improvement who can push the pace and spread the floor. I'd want their transactions to reflect that they're thinking about the next five or six seasons, not just the one directly in front of them. This does not necessarily mean trading Butler and tearing the whole thing down, but it should at least mean being open to major changes. The very most important thing is making sure that the team can no longer be defined by drama, dysfunction and ill-fitting parts.

Depending on whether or not Wade picks up his $23.8 million option, Chicago will have significant cap space either this offseason or next. The front office might still be high on youngsters Cameron Payne, Bobby Portis and Denzel Valentine. Big man Cristiano Felicio, a free agent, and swingman Paul Zipser, signed through 2020 on a cheapo deal, could be rotation players. There is a way to be optimistic about this team's medium-to-long-term future, as long as it does not try to bring back the "Three Alphas" again.

Surely, the Bulls would not do that. Surely, after such a sorry season, they have learned their lesson. Let's check in on what's going on with them, via the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson:

There's a reason management talked about player development so often and so thoroughly in its season-ending news conference on May 3. The franchise is expecting Dwyane Wade to pick up his $23.8 million player option by his June 27 deadline. And management already is on record it wants to retain Rajon Rondo on his $13.4 million options. With the consensus from several league executives that the Celtics will use the No. 1 pick on Markelle Fultz, it's far more likely than not that the "Three Alphas" get another run. And thus, the Bulls' improvement in 2017-18 must come from within.

Oh. No. Oh, no! Nononono. What, exactly, does Chicago think the best-case scenario is with this plan? Does it expect anybody to believe that its two wins over the Boston Celtics before Rondo was sidelined in the first round of the playoffs indicated that its problems were solved? Does it think that Butler had his fantastic season because of the moves they made or in spite of them?

It is screamingly obvious that the status quo won't work for the Bulls. They need to either deal Butler or they need to surround him with shooters so they don't waste his talent. If they're even thinking of offering him an enormous contract extension after next season, then they should probably be trying to build a team around him that could conceivably compete for a championship during the life of that contract.

If Wade does come back, it might be best for him to move to the bench. If Rondo comes back, well, let's just be honest -- it would signify that management still doesn't get it. The idea that Chicago would elect to pay Rondo $13.4 million when it could save $10.4 million by waiving him defies logic. The Bulls are not going to be a tough, dangerous, veteran-laden team, so they might as well try to be a fun, competitive, young one. A course correction is in order, and we know that the front office and coach will not be replaced. That means that there must be additions to the roster, and some addition by subtraction. Let Rondo walk, his brief brilliance against Boston be damned.

Of course, this time last year, Chicago did not know it was going to wind up with Wade and Rondo. Those deals have been described as "opportunistic." By the same token, a month from now, maybe Wade will have opted to leave and the Bulls will have made a franchise-changing trade on draft day. We cannot predict everything that will happen between now and the start of next season. Based on the Bulls' reported outlook, though, we are left to wonder whether this organization has learned anything at all.