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Over the next few weeks, we'll take a closer look at each player on the Bulls roster and see where they fit in for the future.

Kyle Korver

Position: Shooting guard. Age: 31. 2011-12 salary: $5,000,000.

Season recap: Korver worked hard during the summer to improve his overall quickness and showed improvements on the defensive end. His lateral movement was better and he shot almost 44 percent from beyond the arc. He also improved his rebounding and played through several nagging injuries throughout the season. Still, there were games where he was a non-factor and he couldn't find his shot. For the second consecutive year, Korver couldn't find much rhythm in the postseason and didn't even register a point in three games.

Season highlight: On March 10 against the Utah Jazz, his former team, Korver erupted to the tune of 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He was 10-for-16 from the field and found a groove that all shooters talk about. The performance showed once again why Tom Thibodeau loved having him on the floor so much; Korver's presence and ability to knock down long range shots opens up the floor for the rest of his teammates.

Season lowlight: Games 3-6 against the Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs. Korver was just 2-for-10 and ended up only playing a combined 11:35 in the final two games as Thibodeau decided to play Rip Hamilton and Ronnie Brewer more.

Notes: While there was definitely improvement in Korver's game, he would be the first to admit that he would have liked to play better during his two-year tenure in Chicago. Like many of his teammates, Korver gained a lot of admiration for continuing to play through pain during the condensed season. He missed only one game all year and that was because Thibodeau decided to rest him in the regular season finale.

Quotes: "He's a pro," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Korver in March. "He will never stop shooting nor do we ever want him to stop. That's his strength. When he has an open look at the three, we want him to take it all day, every day. In a very good way, he has a short memory. He always thinks the next one is going in. He's a great shooter."

What's next?: The Bulls have to decide whether they want to bring Korver back next year since his contract is not fully guaranteed. Given the Bulls' uncertain cap space, Gar Forman and John Paxson may decide that Korver's $5 million price tag is too much and they have more pressing needs elsewhere. In the meantime, Korver will continue to work out in Santa Barbara, California with some of his trainers and wait to see what happens over the next couple of months.

FINAL GRADES: Regular Season: B-. Postseason: C-.

Ronnie Brewer has played with Kyle Korver for the past five seasons, but with the Chicago Bulls holding options on both players for next season, the run likely will end.

"It's part of the business," Brewer said Thursday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "You take the good with the bad. Sometimes you're faced with tough situations, and to me, I think we'd both like to be on the roster. We both feel like we can make contributions to the team in different ways. I think management agrees and so does coach (Tom Thibodeau). In the ideal situation hopefully they can bring us both back, but if not I'm pretty sure it won't be the last time we're on the court."

Brewer and Korver played almost three seasons together with the Utah Jazz before signing with the Bulls as free agents before the 2010-11 season.

With Jimmy Butler a more affordable option, Brewer figures to be the odd man out, but he hopes his run in Chicago doesn't end after two seasons.

"I liked the situation I was in with the Bulls," Brewer said. "I feel like we have a great team. The chemistry was bar none compared to the other teams I've been on. We've had a lot of success, we've won a lot of games in the regular season and had some kind of success in the playoffs. I think everybody's goal is to win a championship, and the Bulls, if we didn't have injuries this year, could have been right in the mix for that. I'd love to stay with the Bulls. The fans have treated me great, the city has treated me well, and it's a first-class organization so I'd like to stay there."

With Richard Hamilton injured for most of the regular season, Brewer was in and out of the starting lineup. He started 43 games after starting just once in his first season with the Bulls.

Brewer's role was reduced in the Bulls' first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. He played 13 minutes in each of the first two games and didn't make it off the bench for Game 3. But he re-emerged in the final three games, including a big performance in a Game 5 victory when he had six points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes.

"It's tough. I talked with Thibs and the management, and it came to a point where Rip was playing pretty well and they wanted to extend his minutes," Brewer said. "Luol (Deng) had a couple of good games in there where they extended his minutes. When Kyle is in there knocking down shots they tend to play him more. Thibs always told me you've always got to be ready when your name is called, and you never know when your name is going to be called.

"When I didn't go into the game it just goes with the territory. I couldn't get down on myself and whenever he called my name I had to be ready to go in and play as hard as I possibly could."

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Ronnie Brewer talks with 'Waddle & Silvy' about Tom Thibodeau's coaching style, if he thinks he'll be back with the Bulls next year and how he feels about the Miami Heat.



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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- The skies were blue, sun shining, temperature perfect and the day miserable in Chicago, Friday. At least for Chicago Bulls fans who, though not exactly optimistic about the team's playoff chances after Derrick Rose tore his ACL two weeks ago, were left with an aching void after the Bulls were eliminated in the first round by eighth-seed Philadelphia.

The only thing left now, other than the typically frustrating rhythms of Cubs and Sox baseball and football in shorts, is to dwell on the what if's and what-will-be's.

Here are 10 burning Bulls thoughts sure to bug us all summer:

Read the entire story.

Tom Thibodeau and Kyle Korver discuss what needs to happen for the Bulls to fight off elimination.

PHILADELPHIA -- After a season full of fighting through every obstacle in their path, a cold, hard truth hit Tom Thibodeau and his team square in the face Sunday afternoon. They no longer have more than enough to win with.

That's the message that came across loud and clear during the Bulls' 89-82 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers. All the bravado and positive energy in the world can't erase the fact that the Bulls don't have enough playmakers on the floor to scratch out a close victory.

Thibodeau wanted his team to believe it could win without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah on the floor, but their absence appears to be too big to overcome.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Funny, but when Kyle Korver said it Monday, it didn't feel sappy. Funnier than that, it didn't sound impossible either.

"I don't know one good sports movie where the 1-seed cruised to the championship," he said humorously but oh so seriously.

While still sad about the news of Derrick Rose's season-ending knee injury and realistic about the impact of losing last season's league MVP, Korver, his teammates and coach Tom Thibodeau actually seem eager for the challenge.

Read the entire story.

10: The resurgence of Kyle Korver

He sat out Thursday's regular-season finale because of nagging injuries, but Korver has shot the ball a lot better recently. More importantly, his defense has improved this season, and if he knocks down open jumpers he will stretch the floor for Derrick Rose in crunch time.

9: The rise of Taj

Taj Gibson's defense has gotten even better this season, and he will be called upon to be a closer alongside Omer Asik late in games. He always seems to make one or two highlight plays each night, especially against the Miami Heat.

8. The Bench Mob is rolling

Tom Thibodeau may decide to cut his rotation down much the same way he did last postseason, but if he doesn't, Bulls fans should feel great because their team has the deepest bench in the NBA. C.J. Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Jimmy Butler, John Lucas III, Korver and Gibson have developed into a reliable group of reserves that Thibodeau has more confidence in this season.

7. Noah is primed for a title run

Joakim Noah had a lot of ups and downs this season, but he looks to be mentally ready for the grind that comes in the postseason. He was not happy with how last season finished, and he is motivated to create a different ending this time.

6. Thibs is in control

Now in his second year, Thibodeau knows what he wants from his team, and he learned a lot from the postseason last time. He wants to continue to prove to all the teams that passed him over for head-coaching positions that they made a mistake. The best revenge would be a title.

5. Bulls still feel like underdogs

Thibodeau's team had the best record in the NBA again this season, but he has the players buying into the idea that there are still a lot of people who don't believe they can win. That belief will permeate through the locker room as the postseason drags along and will push his players to play even harder.

4. A year wiser

As a group, the Bulls have matured a lot over the past year. They have gotten even more comfortable playing alongside each other, and they are even more confident when they are on the floor together. That maturity is something that has grown throughout the season, and they feel like it will carry them for the next few months.

3. Don't write off Boozer yet

Carlos Boozer knows that he didn't perform up to his capabilities last season during the playoffs. He heard all the criticism, and it pushed him to come back in even better shape this season. He is the only Bull who started and played in every game this season. He wants to have a big postseason run to prove to everybody who doubted him that he is not a bust.

2. Rip City

The Bulls' biggest flaw last season was that they didn't have a 2-guard who could knock down open shots and take some pressure off Rose. Now they feel like they have that guy with Richard Hamilton, a player who knows what it takes to win a title (having won one in Detroit) and can help show his teammates the way. If he can knock down big shots in the playoffs, nobody will care that he missed most of the season because of injuries.

1. Watching Derrick Rose

Bulls fans should be most excited by the fact that Rose is playing and desperately wants to win a title. He has been hurt, and he's still not close to 100 percent. But he's still the reigning MVP of the league, and he is still better than most of his peers, even when he's not at his best. Rose may not be able to make all the moves he made last season, but as long as he's on the floor the Bulls still have a chance to win a title.

CHICAGO -- With the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference locked up, the Chicago Bulls will sit Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Kyle Korver for the regular-season finale against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.

Read the full story.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls were able to turn to Kyle Korver and his 3-point shooting in the opening two rounds of the playoffs last season.

Korver came through with multiple 3-balls to help the Bulls take down the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks in the playoffs. He hit 18 3-pointers in the two series and had four games in double figures scoring.

But when it came to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, Korver disappeared.

He hit one 3-pointer in each of four games and none in another. He finished the series shooting 4-of-14 from 3-point range and 7-of-22 from the field. It was his worst five-game stretch of the season.

On Thursday against the Heat, Korver hit his shots again, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, and scoring 17 points in the Bulls’ 96-86 overtime win over the Heat.

If Korver can put together a performance like that should the Bulls meet the Heat in the playoffs again, he might just be able to give that added boost to put them over the top.

(Read full post)

The Bulls' Kyle Korver joined "Waddle & Silvy" to talk about their victory over the Knicks, playing without Derrick Rose and more.



Click here for more audio from ESPN Chicago.

CHICAGO – The Chicago Bulls were still bothered Tuesday by one specific sequence during their Sunday overtime loss to the New York Knicks.

It came in the final minute of overtime Sunday when the Knicks missed on three consecutive shots and went on to grab three consecutive offensive rebounds leading to Carmelo Anthony sinking the game-winning 3-pointer. It troubled the Bulls that if at any point they had just denied one of those offensive rebounds and grabbed the ball themselves, the game was likely theirs.

On Tuesday, the Bulls weren’t going to let history repeat itself. While their 98-86 win over the Knicks Tuesday wasn’t determined by a single dramatic play like two days earlier, the Bulls made sure they were all over any opportunity that resembled such a play.

“We felt like we gave up too many chances up in New York,” Bulls forward Carlos Boozer said. “The last play alone they had four or five offensive rebounds, Melo had three or four shots to win. Tonight, I thought we did a much better job of closing it out.”

Whether it was Bulls guard Kyle Korver diving for a loose ball and delivering an assist from the seat of his pants in the fourth quarter or Omer Asik rejecting what appeared to a wide-open dunk by Knicks center Tyson Chandler in the second quarter or any of the Bulls simply putting a body on a Knicks’ player and boxing out in any of the quarters, the Bulls prevented the Knicks from outhustling them on Tuesday.

“The game the other night it really came down to a couple plays,” said Korver, who had 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in Tuesday’s win. “If we had gotten a few loose balls, if we had made a couple shots, if we had made a free throw, we would have won the game. So I think tonight everyone had the mindset of if there’s a loose ball, you got to get it. If there’s an open shot, you got to take it. I thought everybody did that tonight.”

With Derrick Rose out again on Tuesday, the depleted Bulls turned to what’s kept them atop of the Eastern Conference in their MVP’s absence -- defense and rebounding.

Outside of Anthony scoring a game-high 29 points and Chandler grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds on Tuesday, the Bulls held every other Knick in check. No one else scored more than 14 points, and no one else grabbed more than five rebounds. The Bulls outrebounded the Knicks 51-33 in total and 18-5 on the offensive glass.

“When you play solid defense and dominate a team on the boards, it doesn’t matter who you have on the offensive end -- it obviously matters, but not as much,” Korver said. “This is a team that hangs their hat on defense and rebounding.”

NEW YORK -- Derrick Rose dressed quietly in front of his locker stall in the bowels of Madison Square Garden late Sunday afternoon. He scrolled through messages on his cell phone before finally starting to put on his clothes. Kyle Korver sat on the other side of the room in disbelief. He stared off into space. A few moments later, Joakim Noah sat up against the wall in his locker stall and looked up toward a teammate.

"I'm [upset]," he said.

That summed up the feeling in the Chicago Bulls' locker room after a 100-99 heartbreaking overtime loss to the New York Knicks. Rose, Korver, Noah, they all knew they could have played a lot better and that's what made this particular defeat so difficult to swallow.

"We had to make a lot of mistakes there to lose that game, and we did," Korver said. "We did. We made a lot of mistakes. We gave them certain shots, we missed some free throws, I missed a 3. We had a lot of opportunities to put the game away and each one of them went their way. We got to learn from it."

It's rare to see words like that after a team comes back from a 21-point deficit, but it was apropos on this day. After getting completely outworked for most of the first half, the Bulls clawed their way back and managed to establish a 10-point lead with 3:45 left to play in fourth quarter. That's when the Bulls are supposed to be at their best, but, this time, that's when things completely fell apart. The Bulls couldn't find any kind of rhythm late and didn't score another point in regulation. Rose, who was playing in his first game in nearly a month because of a groin injury, and Luol Deng each missed two free throws and mentally the Bulls never quite recovered.

"We beat ourselves," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

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CHICAGO -- The silence in the Chicago Bulls locker room was deafening.

Joakim Noah sat on one side of the room with an ice pack on each knee just staring into space. Luol Deng sat a few stalls over with his feet in ice and a big ice bag on his wrist, just pondering the past 48 minutes. Rip Hamilton sat in his seat with a huge ice pack on his shoulder. The players wore an expression of fatigue and frustration.

For the first time in almost 14 months, the Bulls dropped back-to-back games, and the players struggled to wrap their minds around what has gone so badly in the past two contests.

"We got to get back to the way we play," Deng said. "Just find ways to win. We're not doing that right now."

What's missing, though? The Bulls got smoked by a very talented Oklahoma City team on Sunday, but they followed that up by folding down the stretch against the Houston Rockets. After continuously finding a way to win without Derrick Rose, the Bulls have lost the fortitude that pushed them past all the bumps in the road this season. The players all said they needed to look at tape to see what was wrong, but Kyle Korver had an idea as to what the problem is.

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OKLAHOMA CITY -- Tom Thibodeau is a creature of habit. He does things the same way day after day. That's why it was so surprising to see Ronnie Brewer out of the starting lineup Sunday afternoon. Brewer, who has started 40 games this year, wasn't replaced by Richard Hamilton, he was replaced by Kyle Korver. It was a decision Korver said Thibodeau talked to him about on Saturday.

"He told me [Saturday] that he was thinking about it," Korver said. "And then told me this morning that I was going to."

Why did he make the switch?

"He didn't really say," Korver said. "He just said he was kicking around some different ideas and I'm sure he put a lot of thought into it for different reasons."

(Read full post)

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Don't fall into the trap.

Don't look at the Bulls' 92-78 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday afternoon and think things would have turned out differently with Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton on the floor.

Obviously, their presence, especially that of Rose, would have helped -- but it wouldn't have changed the outcome. The Bulls' biggest issues were unrelated to the reigning MVP's absence. The issue was that unlike so many other times in the past, Tom Thibodeau's team simply got outworked and outhustled by a more aggressive squad.

"We were awful offensively, defensively, just disappointing," Bulls center Joakim Noah said. "They really kicked our (butt) in every aspect of the game."

In a matchup between the teams with the best records in the league, the Thunder toyed with the Bulls the way the Bulls usually dispatch the Detroit Pistons. In certain stretches, especially late in the game, the Bulls played hard. But for the most part, the Bulls allowed the Thunder to do whatever they wanted to do on either end of the floor.

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