Gar Forman optimistic about Chicago Bulls future even with pressing concerns to address – NBA News
Bulls General Manager sat down for an interview with Bulls TV this week at the Berto Center and talked about the many issues facing the Bulls in the near future.
Forman admitted that the loss of Derrick Rose had dealt a big blow to the team and its recipe for success, but remained optimistic for success. He said that the team management needed to balance their short term needs with long
term aspirations and wanted to ensure that the Bulls remained a successful basketball team and franchise for the coming years.
“We’ve hit a bump in the road. We’re going to take a step back short term. But long term, we’re in as good of position as we feel we’ve ever been in. We’ve got some quality young players,” said Forman.
Forman highlighted the injury and resulting recovery process of star point guard Derrick Rose and said that he was very happy with the way Rose was tackling his rehab. He was confident that Rose would be back to his old self in
no time.
The star one guard is expected to be out for 8-12 months that could see him missing half of next season. But Forman said that he is ahead of schedule in his recovery process.
“He’s been diligent in his rehab, he’s made tremendous progress, and the surgery, obviously, was a huge success. The biggest thing that’s been encouraging about Derrick has been his mentality towards the rehab. He’s working each
and every day, putting a lot of effort into it,” said Forman.
The most important decision that Forman will be facing as a general manager in the coming weeks will be the NBA Draft, scheduled for June 28th. The Bulls have only 1 pick in this year’s draft, 29th overall.
But Forman feels that the draft is quite deep and the Bulls can find a player who can contribute to the success of the team, much like Taj Gibson who was selected 26th overall in 2009 but has made his place in the Bulls roster.
“We feel pretty good about where we’re at with No. 29. It’s a deep draft and we’ll be able to address a need with our pick and get a player that’s going to fit into our team,” said Forman.
Asked whether he believed in drafting for a specific position, Forman disagreed and said that he was going to go for the most talented guy at the 29th position in the Draft.
After the injury to Rose and the subsequent abrupt end to the Bulls playoff campaign, there were speculations that the Bulls might go for a veteran point guard to replace Rose till the time he returned, and could play as his backup
when he returned.
Names of Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Ray Allen came to mind, who are all set to be free agents in July. But Forman dismissed the idea, saying that the Bulls did not have enough financial flexibility to go after a star player at
this point of time.
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