The Bulls, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, and walking the walk vs. talking the talk

See, here’s the problem with the superstar team-up era. The Chicago Bulls have put together a team that features a perennial MVP candidate at 23, an All-Star wing defender who can shoot, a hyper-active emotional powderkeg with some offensive skills built in at seven-feet, a deep bench, some microwave scorers... and Carlos Boozer. (No one’s perfect.) And yet when CSN Chicago reports that the Bulls are planning to make a run at either Jason Kidd or Steve Nash, both unrestricted free agents this summer, I have nothing but skepticism because Chicago has not been a franchise that has pursued being “elite” since Jordan walked away. That team they have is good enough, it’s great enough. But I still can’t believe Chicago will really try and make that monster move, because of the money involved and their past history. From CSN Chicago:

While the front office may seek out minimum-salary veterans at several positions, including point guard, a source tells CSNChicago.com that the Bulls will take a run at future Hall of Famers Steve Nash and Jason Kidd in free agency, trying to convince the former All-Stars that they will have an opportunity to win a championship, of which Kidd has one, from last season with the Mavericks, and Nash has none, in Chicago.

According to the same source, the rest of the team’s “core"--starters Rose, Deng, Hamilton, center Joakim Noah and power forward Carlos Boozer, as well as reserve big men Taj Gibson and Omer Asik, the latter of whom is a restricted free agent this summer, though the Bulls are likely to match any offers for him from opposing teams--is “safe,” though team management will surely at least listen to trade offers.

via Rose making progress, Bulls thinking big?.

Perhaps you’re wondering how on Earth either of those guys will be willing to make a massive paycut to play backup. Well, here’s the thing. They may not have to. We saw this year a lot of teams playing two-point-guard lineups effectively. Honestly, with how fast the league is moving, you almost have the luxury of playing smallball a lot of the time against most teams. Kidd is probably reaching a point where he’s best suited as a role player on the bench anyway, but Nash could excel with Rose next to him. There’s no reason Rose can’t guard some of the bigger 2-guards, and the ones he can’t? Luol Deng can cover. The number of teams with incredible scorers at both the 2 and 3 spots is really in the 3-4 range, with Miami and OKC the obvious inclusions there.

But still, you can’t help but be concerned. Jerry Reinsdorf, the Bulls owner, has made noise about going into the luxury tax this summer which would be a big departure for him. He’s going to have to if he wants to keep that core mentioned above together, considering Asik’s likely offers in restricted free agency and Derrick Rose’s extension kicking in, and that’s before trying to add a Hall of Fame point guard.

So, no, I don’t think the Bulls will swing for the fences with either player. I think we’ll see the same Bulls team back, but it may not be as good. But then, I don’t know why that’s a problem. When healthy, that’s still more than enough for the Bulls to win the title.