The Chicago Bulls haven’t enjoyed a lot of success since the retirement of Michael Jordan, with the team easily being one of the most disappointing big market teams of the last 20 years. However, the Bulls had a few amazing years where they contended atop the East in the 2010s, led by 2008 Draft No. 1 pick Derrick Rose.
The Bulls picking Rose changed the course of the franchise. Rose became the league’s youngest MVP ever and started helping the Bulls make regular pushes to the Conference Finals, just for a LeBron James-led team to stop them in their tracks, be it Miami or Cleveland.
Rose revealed that the Bulls actually almost chose Michael Beasley instead of him because of the criminal past of Rose’s brother.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O79geGhO9Ac
“I am at dinner, it’s the night before the draft. The Bulls call my brother, and they’re gonna deny this, but they call my brother and some sh*t come up with some background. Like, ‘your brother was arrested blah blah blah, what’s going on?’ I am sick because I’m like ‘y’all drafting me, not my brother.’ I get off the table and I am sick, I have to walk out, I am crying and sh*t because I wanted to number one. My brother come out and he was frustrated because this happened in the past, like it’s nothing I could do about it… He saw that I was hurt and how bad I wanted to go number one, so we out here going through it bro. But at the end, I was like ‘f*ck it, if they don’t pick us, we’re gonna go to Miami and we’re gonna do the same thing.”
Injuries would cut Rose’s prime heartbreakingly short as the fan favorite would almost lose his spot in the league before a late-career resurgence that has seen him have good stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and New York Knicks.
What If The Bulls Passed On Rose?
The 2008 Draft would have given the Bulls options outside of Rose as well, it’s just that those options didn’t make as much sense as Rose. No. 4 pick Russell Westbrook had a similar skill set but Rose was the clearly better prospect heading into the Draft.
Other options like Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, or OJ Mayo just wouldn’t;t have worked out as well as Rose for a variety of reasons. Beasley’s career was marked with inconsistency, Mayo was a bust, and Love has had a solid career, but Rose’s prime was much bigger than Love’s prime.
Rose is also from Chicago, so it’s good that the Bulls didn’t mess up the perfect draft situation that they received in 2008. Sadly, Rose’s Bulls could never bring a championship to the team.
