5 alternative NBA timelines for Yao Ming
By John Buhler
2. What if he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls?
If there was one team that could have handled the Yao phenomenon as well as Houston did, it would have to be the Chicago Bulls. Chicago was terrible in the post-Michael Jordan years. The Bulls had the No. 1 pick in the 1999 NBA Draft and the No. 2 pick in the 2002 NBA Draft.
To say that Chicago would have used its first pick in 1999 on Yao over Eddy Curry seems a bit farfetched, but the Bulls were in the market to land him in 2002. Chicago picked Duke point guard Jay Williams at No. 2. Williams would suffer a near-death motorcycle accident after his rookie year and would never play in the NBA again.
Yao was a dynamic media spectacle. Chicago was well equipped to deal with that from its days with people like Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson. The Bulls with Yao don’t toil in obscurity in the early 2000s. Chicago makes the Eastern Conference Playoffs by 2004 in a very tough Central Division. All four of the Bulls’ division rivals were good to great in the mid-2000s.
Coaching would have been key in Yao’s development. Vinny Del Negro probably struggles with Yao and Tom Thibodeau drives Yao into the ground on the defensive end. One interesting element in Yao with the Bulls is that they’d have a great low-post tandem with him and Joakim Noah in the late 2000s. It’d be hard for teams in the East to score on that Bulls frontcourt.
Yao on the Bulls means Derrick Rose never laces up for his hometown team. Chicago probably doesn’t win an NBA Championship with Yao, but appears in at least two Eastern Conference Finals with him as the Bulls’ centerpiece. The Bulls don’t stink for eight to 10 years post-Jordan if they land Yao in 2002.
Next: 1. What if he stayed healthy?