The Bulls are basically maxed out in terms of the salary cap and they will not go into the luxury tax.

Yeah, there's no reason Chicago can't be an elite destination but for Jerry Reinsdorf. He wants to run a Chicago team on a Salt Lake City budget, he gets Salt Lake City people.

It's a soft cap. They could spend more, but that would detract from the Bulls acting as the fundraising arm of the White Sox, who are conversely allowed to pick up giant contracts as waiver-claim-blocks while 20,000 people come to games.

It's a soft cap. They could spend more, but that would detract from the Bulls acting as the fundraising arm of the White Sox, who are conversely allowed to pick up giant contracts as waiver-claim-blocks while 20,000 people come to games.

In the last great Free Ajent class, the de facto cream of the class opted to play together in Miami. The Bulls then got the next best player available to sign with them.

Prior to that was the McGrady class. And that was still Krause and Tim Floyd.

This may seem kinda dated, but to this day, I remember a conversation longtime NBA/TNT Sports' PBP Kevin Harlan gave the Bulls' flagship station ESPN Radio 1000 over a decade ago. I'm not sure who was on at the time, but Kevin told the guys that the team's treatment of Michael, Scottie & the 6-time NBA Champions at the time the two Jerrys decided to break that team up after the 6th title was a big reason why Chicago became a less than favorable destination for NBA free agents. Kevin thought at the time that word seemed to get around and the Bulls haven't exactly been a place where marquee free agents really want to come. This was well before the Bulls started to draft much better, and that includes Derrick Martell Rose.

It may seem kind of dated?

It is entirely useless, seeing as the man responsible for "breaking up the dynasty" is working for the Diamondbacks.

Well, I don't know why NBA free agents avoid Chicago like the plague! I was just giving my own theory why the Bulls haven't been able to land a marquee free agent since you know who retired!

Rick pretty much explained it. Ever since the TMac/Grant Hill letdown of 2000 that perception has been with the Bulls and I'm not sure it's really accurate at all.

The Bulls & the Magic that year had the most salary cap space of any NBA team, FavreFan. It was so bad for the Bulls that year, ex-GM Jerry Krause couldn't give that $$$$ away. Not even Tim Thomas wanted to come here...

Another possible reason...Taxes. I remember that was a big reason why Tracy McGrady went to Orlando many years ago. Florida, you see, didn't have a state sales tax.

Are we counting 2004-2007 as the dark ages? Because those years were about as productive as the Rose era: 41-41 finishes, first-round exits, feelings of optimism.

Are we counting 2004-2007 as the dark ages? Because those years were about as productive as the Rose era: 41-41 finishes, first-round exits, feelings of optimism.