It’s not much to go on, I acknowledge that. A puff of smoke, a subtle hint, trace evidence.
The Bulls were down 3-0 in an Eastern Conference semifinal against the Pistons last season and had done an exceptional job of embarrassing themselves.
But they showed something in Game 4. Heart, mettle, talent — whatever you want to call it. They jumped to a big lead at the United Center, held off a rally from the Pistons and avoided a sweep.
They showed something more by winning Game 5 in Detroit when most everyone expected to see a funeral.
Some of us have carried around a spark of hope since then, the way early humans might have protected an ember.
Many of you would prefer Kobe Bryant over a spark. I understand.
But the Bulls are not one Kobe Bryant away from getting to the NBA Finals. They’re one Kobe Bryant away from starting over. Not from scratch, mind you, but from going through the convulsions that seem to be a part of any big trade. It’s very, very difficult to build a team around a newcomer and expect to win right away.
The promise of winning now is not a promise but a hope.
Bryant requested a trade in the off-season, and the Lakers recently indicated they’d be willing to listen to offers. They likely are going to want at least two of three players from the Bulls’ young nucleus: Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon.
It’s too much, especially if it involves Deng.
People expect immediacy these days. Cell phones, instant messages and liposuction sprang from impatience. So the possibility of acquiring Bryant looks like the probability of an instant championship to some of you.
But how much more fulfilling would it be if the Bulls’ nucleus stayed together and took another step forward?
I know: That kind of thinking is so yesterday, so wrapped up in patience.
But let’s look at it a different way. Which would you find easier to embrace? A championship with a Kobe-come-lately? Or a championship with three players whom the Bulls drafted and nurtured and developed?
The first question general manager John Paxson has to ask himself is whether his current creation is capable of winning an NBA title.
It is, provided he can add some inside scoring. He doesn’t need to give up a two-player combination involving Hinrich, Deng and Gordon to get it.
Adding Bryant does indeed add scoring. It also changes the team’s DNA and turns the squad into something completely different from what it was before. A hungry team becomes a one-man team. That’s not a shot at Bryant; it’s just the reality of what happens when he’s on the court. He takes over.
Last year he was surrounded by Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Smush Parker and a cast of other forgettable players. If the Bulls trade Deng and Gordon for Bryant, it means Kobe will have Ben Wallace, Andres Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas, Hinrich and Joakim Noah as his supporting cast.
No reason to start sewing a new championship banner for that group.
Deng is on the verge of stardom. He’s a great talent, humble, a winner, a good teammate and wise beyond his 22 years. What part of that doesn’t equate into being the centerpiece of a championship team? Give him the chance to become the go-to guy.
From a business standpoint, getting Bryant makes sense. Despite his lurid off-court problems, he would fill up the United Center with forgiving fans. He’s the best player in the NBA, a wonderfully talented athlete and a show unto himself.
From a competitive standpoint, it makes less sense.
What have the Lakers done with Kobe as their centerpiece the last few years? They lost in the first round of the playoffs the past two seasons and didn’t make the playoffs the year before, their first season without Shaquille O’Neal.
The Bulls would be foolish not to investigate a trade. They’d be foolish to give up Deng and another up-and-comer for Bryant.
Let’s watch this group grow, not go.
When the Bulls signed Wallace before last season, the mistake some of us made was to assume that it was a guarantee they would compete for the Eastern Conference title. Winning is a process, as Michael Jordan will tell you.
So it was unrealistic to think they were going to waltz their way through the playoffs last season: 1, because what group of young men waltzes these days? and 2, because it takes time to build something good and lasting.
We always go back to the Jordan years for a barometer. Those early Bulls teams had the very talented MJ and couldn’t win. Perhaps you remember the battles with the Bad Boy Pistons. And then they got over the hump.
These Bulls don’t have that kind of talent, of course. But they have something. What it is and how much of it they have isn’t entirely clear yet.
But it would be fun to find out the answer.
———–
rmorrissey@tribune.com
