Bleacher Report names Chicago Bulls’ post-2000 Mount Rushmore

According to Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale, the Chicago Bulls still have a pretty solid Mount Rushmore since 2000. Of course, one of the best basketball players ever and some multi-time NBA champions aren’t on the list since they didn’t play, but it’s still a good list:

• PG Derrick Rose
• SF Jimmy Butler
• SF Luol Deng
• C Joakim Noah

That’s a pretty solid unit, even when considering the fact that Derrick Rose was genuinely derailed by injuries. “Derrick Rose’s prime and tenure with the Chicago Bulls veered off course after he tore his left ACL during the 2012 playoffs. The ‘What if…’ factor alone meets the criteria of this exercise,” Favale said.

Rose does still have an MVP and Rookie of the Year, and he’s within the top five of total points (fourth) and assists (second) among all Bulls players since 2000. Rose was maybe the easiest pick of this list, even though he has the injuries.

“Luol Deng and Joakim Noah are among the most prestigious remnants of two separate eras: the one with Prime Rose, and the one thereafter,” Favale said. “They embodied the Bulls’ more-than-enough-to-win ethos—Noah with his relentless motor and Defensive Player of the Year staying power, Deng with his bandwidth to ferry unfathomable workloads.”

That leaves Jimmy Butler, who had a very interesting run with the Bulls. He was a legitimately great player, and the Bulls curiously decided to move on. It might get forgotten since he’s been on quite a few teams since, but Butler was a great member of the Bulls.

“Jimmy Butler should be remembered as the best overall player among this foursome. His place in Bulls lore is undercut only by their decision to trade him,” Favale said. And for that fact, he deserves a spot as one of the franchise’s four best players since the year 2000.