When we began this, we thought Derrick Rose would be ranked a little higher, but here we have an MVP who was never the same after a torn ACL.

Rose’s career met early expectations. Drafted First Overall in 2008 after a season in Memphis, Rose won the NBA Rookie of the Year with a 16.8 Point and 6.3 Assist per Game year.  The Point Guard was an All-Star the following year, as he cracked the 20 PPG mark. This was a very good pair of opening seasons, but Rose was ready to ascend to greater heights.

In this third year in the NBA (2011-12), Rose averaged an even 25.0 PPG with a 7.7 APG.  Not only was Rose an All-Star, but he was also a First Team All-Star and the league MVP.  Chicago went deep into the playoffs that year, and at age 22, he had yet to reach his peak, and Rose looked to be the best Bull since Jordan.  Or so we thought.

Rose was an All-Star again in the strike-shortened 2011-12 season, but in the first round of the playoffs against Philadelphia, Rose tore his ACL.  He missed the following year, and when he returned in 2013-14, he tore his meniscus ten games in.  Rose came back in 2014-15 but missed another 20 Games.  The Point Guard played 66 Games in 2015-16, but after that torn ACL, Rose just wasn't the same player, averaging 17.4 Points with a PER of only 14.1 

The Bulls gave up on Rose, trading him in June of 2016, but this is a former MVP, so calling him a disappointment seems wrong.  We can say that it could have been so much more, but injuries have a winning record.

From Sudan, raised in England, and schooled at Duke, Luol Deng was a top-ten pick by the Phoenix Suns, who, as part of a pre-arranged draft day agreement, entered the National Basketball Association with the Chicago Bulls.

Like most high picks, Deng showed gradual improvement, built on his good 11.7 PPG rookie year, and would have four years as a Bull, averaging at least 17 Points and 6 Rebounds per Game. Calling Deng a superstar might have been a stretch, but he was a two-time All-Star Game participant, both in years when he led the NBA in Minutes per Game.

Deng was eligible to be a Free Agent in 2017, and before the 2016-17 campaign ended, Deng was traded to Cleveland. With the Bulls, Deng averaged 16.1 Points per Game in nearly ten seasons, with none of them falling below 11.

Jimmy Butler is an interesting basketball player.  He is phenomenal on the court, enigmatic off of it, and when his career ends, we want to see a detailed career retrospective on Butler in the vein of Jordan's "Last Dance."  We're serious; we find him fascinating!

One of the more enduring scenes of the 2007 Draft was the image of Joakim Noah, in a suit that only he could wear, a Bulls cap on his head with a mountain of hair spilling out of it.  The son of the former tennis star, Yannick Noah, might have looked a little silly to some "traditional" viewers. What they should have been seeing was an excellent basketball player.

Noah was part of a trio with Corey Brewer and Al Jefferson that won two National Championships at Florida.  The Center was the Ninth Overall Pick in 2007 by the Chicago Bulls. They slowly worked Noah into their system, with him becoming a permanent starter in his third year, where he averaged a double-double (10.7 Points and 11.0 Rebounds). He did it again the following year (11.7 Points and 10.4 Rebounds) with a Second Team All-Defensive Selection as a reward.

Noah’s boarding average slipped below 10 in 2011-12 (9.8), but he followed that with his two best years as a basketball player.  Noah went to the All-Star Game in both 2013 and 2014, again with double-double averages. Noah’s defense was stellar in his timeframe as First Team All-Defensive in both years, and he won the coveted Defensive Player of the Year in 2013-14.  

Noah's play slipped over the next two years, and his stay in Chicago ended when he signed with the New York Knicks in 2016.  With the Bulls, Noah had averaged 9.3 Points, 9.4 Rebounds, and 1.4 Blocks per Game.