The Chicago Bulls will have tough decisions to make after the 2015-16 season, including the possibility of trading Derrick Rose before the former NBA Most Valuable Player becomes a free agent.
Rose has not been the same player who won the MVP during the 2010-11 NBA season after suffering numerous injuries, including a torn ACL in his left knee.
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According to Danny Leroux of Sportingnews, the Bulls resisted making moves to add another top-tier point guard, hoping that Rose will regain his old form. But now that Rose is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2017, the report indicated the Bulls could decide to move into a new direction starting this summer.
"Rose's impending free agency also makes him movable," Leroux said. "If the Bulls can find a team looking for a point guard rental or a cap space plug before 2017 free agency hits, they may be able to get a reasonable return in an offseason or midseason trade."
Moving Rose could also signal a new era in Chicago, as the Bulls built their roster around the former Memphis standout. The 27-year-old point guard played in just 61 regular season games in the last two seasons, but has been relatively healthy this year. In 55 games this season, Rose averaged 16.6 points and 4.9 assists per game.
Meanwhile, Leroux also indicated that the Bulls could move on from big men Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol. Noah, who sustained a season-ending shoulder injury earlier in the season, will become an unrestricted free agent, while Gasol is expected to opt out of his contract to hit free agency.
Noah has been one of the stalwarts of the Bulls in recent years but the coaching change - from Tom Thibodeau to Fred Hoiberg - last summer changed his fortunes, as he was given lesser playing time before the injury.
On the other hand, Gasol was named to the All-Star team for the second consecutive season last month, but the Bulls could also decide to end ties with the veteran to focus on developing their young frontline players like Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis.
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