Record 47–35 (.573) | Period 2004 – 2005 | |
Playoff finish East First Round(eliminated 2-4) | ||
The 2004–05 Chicago Bulls season was the 39th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Bulls stumbled out of the gate as they lost their first nine games on their way to a horrendous 3–14 start. However, they would win 13 of their 16 games in January plus winning nine straight games at the end of March. The Bulls finished second in the Central Division with a record of 47–35, and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1998. Top draft pick Ben Gordon became the first rookie to win the Sixth Man of The Year Award. However, injuries were an issue as Luol Deng was out for April and the postseason, and Eddy Curry was sidelined due to a heart ailment. In the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls took a 2–0 lead over the Washington Wizards, but would lose the final four games of the series.
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Offseason
The Bulls drafted Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Chris Duhon, with Gordon coming from Connecticut and Deng and Duhon coming from Duke. They also signed Argentinian forward Andrés Nocioni, who had played on several successful international teams. These acquisitions reflected John Paxson's strategy of building around players who had already been on successful teams, a departure from what Jerry Krause had done as General Manager, drafting Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler in the same season, players who both showed tremendous potential, but were both coming to the NBA directly from high school.
Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams were traded to the New York Knicks for Dikembe Mutombo and Cezary Trybanski. However, Mutombo was traded again to the Houston Rockets for Eric Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin without ever playing in a game for the Bulls and Trybanksi was waived by the team in October.
Postseason
The Bulls' record of 47-35 was good enough for the #4 seed in the Eastern conference. In the first round of the playoffs the Bulls met another young team on the upswing, the Washington Wizards. The Bulls would lose the series 4-2, staying competitive throughout most of the series, but ultimately unable to find an answer for Wizards star Gilbert Arenas. The Bulls also entered the series nursing injuries. Most notably, Eddy Curry was injured in late March, and the Bulls signed veteran Lawrence Funderburke just days before the beginning of the postseason in an attempt to add more depth to their front-court.
East First Round
(4) Chicago Bulls vs. (5) Washington Wizards
Washington won 2–1 in the regular-season series:
Last Playoffs meeting: 1997 Eastern Conference First Round (Chicago won 3–0)
Awards and records
Ben Gordon lost out to Emeka Okafor for Rookie of the Year honors, but did win Sixth Man of the Year honors, averaging 15.1 points per game despite making only three starts.