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The Chicago Bulls are one of the oldest NBA franchise. They were founded in 1966 and have stayed as the Chicago Bulls all their time in the NBA.
They are credited with popularizing the NBA worldwide after they achieved unprecedented success in the 1990s. They are known for having one of the greatest NBA dynasties ever witnessed, winning six NBA championships from 1991 to 1998, with two three-peats (winning 3 titles back to back).
They are also the only franchise in NBA history to have won multiple NBA titles but have never lost a final. With their last title coming in 1998, it does not mean that they did not have any great players in the 2000s. Let us look at the best Chicago Bulls players that played for them since 2000.
#5 Kirk Hinrich (2003-2010, 2012-2016)
Kirk Hinrich was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 2003 NBA with the 7th pick of the night. His selection was met with doubts and some criticism as nobody expected him to be that good of a player. But he proved a lot of them wrong. He was a really solid role player and was a big part of the Bulls roster for a long time.
He was an excellent scorer, averaging 16.6 points per game, along with 6.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds a game in 2006-07, considered his best season for the Bulls. He was traded to the Washington Wizards in 2010 and was then traded the next season to the Atlanta Hawks in 2011.
He played a role in the Hawks reaching the playoffs but in the 2012 season, re-signed with the Chicago Bulls again. He was a leader on the court for them and was a great defensive player for them. He also has the most number of three-pointers for a Bulls player in franchise history, which gets him the No. 5 spot.
#4 Luol Deng (2004-2014)
The Chicago Bulls had 2 top-10 picks in the 2004 NBA draft and ended up with Luol Deng as one of the them. Deng was drafted seventh by the Phoenix Suns but was traded as the Bulls had an agreement with them and Deng developed into one of the strongest players for them in recent history.
Deng is a two-time All-Star, a NBA defensive second team of the year nominee and though he has not won a championship with the Bulls, he has been great for them. He was a part of the All NBA rookie team in his first season and became a really strong scorer.
Deng led the team to six playoff runs and averaged a solid 15 points per game along with 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists a game too. His tenure with the Bulls ended abruptly when they traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 and since then it has not gone well for him.
He is currently playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves but barely gets any minutes. He still was a great player for the Bulls and takes the 4th spot for them.
#3 Joakim Noah (2007-2016)
The Chicago Bulls had the ninth pick in the 2007 draft in the NBA and ended up choosing Joakim Noah as their player, which turned out to be one of the better picks they have made in the draft.
Noah, with the Bulls, is a two-time All-Star, a NBA first team nominee in 2014, NBA defensive player of the year in 2014 and a two-time All NBA defensive first team.
He did not have a great rookie season or a sophomore season with the Bull but really started growing into his role from the third season.
His defensive game was lauded more than his offensive game and he has multiple nominations into the defensive team of the year.
His best season came in 2013-14 season when he averaged a solid 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks, winning the NBA defensive player of the year.
He was never able to reach the same heights again due to injury trouble and ended up signing with the New York Knicks in 2016, where again he was not able to make an impact. He now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies and is having a mini-resurgence. He will still be one of the best Bulls players in the 2000s.
#2 Jimmy Butler (2011-2017)
The Chicago Bulls had the 30th pick in the 2011 NBA draft and ended up picking one of their future cornerstones for the franchise in Jimmy Butler.
He is a four-time NBA All-Star, two-time All-NBA third team nominee, four-time NBA All-Defensive second team and won the Most Improved Player of the Year in 2015. Butler was not very highly recommended while coming into the draft and the Bulls taking a chance on him paid off really well.
Butler showed flashes of brilliance early in his career and had a breakout season in 2014-15. Butler just kept getting better and in 2016-17 ended up averaging 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 37.0 minutes per game, a career year for him.
Butler had become one of the best in the league and with nobody around him in the Bulls, he too was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, the draft pick that is now Lauri Markannen and Kris Dunn. Still, one wonders what could have been if Butler had some help around him and he stayed with them.
#1 Derrick Rose (2008-2016)
Derrick Rose has had one amazing career and sometimes people wonder what would have been if he could have stayed fit and away from the injuries. Rose was drafted in the 2008 NBA draft as the No.1 pick by the Chicago Bulls.
He was amazing in his rookie year, winning the Rookie of the Year award, on his 16.8 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game averages and took Chicago to the post-season. He only got better in his next season as he continued playing really good basketball and was selected to his first All-Star game.
In his third season in the NBA, Rose took it to the next level, averaging 25 points per game, along with 7.7 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1 steal per game to win the NBA MVP award in 2010-11, becoming the youngest MVP ever at 22 years old.
He led the Chicago Bulls to the playoffs again where they reached the Eastern Conference finals on his back but lost out to the superteam Miami Heat in 5 games.
He tore his ACL in the 2011-12 season and since then has suffered through a bunch of injuries that have taken away one of the best players we could have seen, probably since LeBron James.
He has now returned to near his former self with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but will probably be known for his time with the Chicago Bulls, where he was the best player since 2000.
