2008–09 Chicago Bulls season

Record 41–41 (.500) Period 2008 – 2009 Owner Jerry Reinsdorf Arena United Center		Head coach Vinny Del Negro General manager John Paxson Radio WMVP

Place Division: 2nd (Central) Conference: 7th (Eastern) Playoff finish First round (eliminated 4–3) Television CSN Chicago, WGN America, WGN, WCIU Similar 2003–04 Chicago Bulls sea, 1966–67 Chicago Bulls sea, 1988–89 Chicago Bulls sea, 1985–86 Chicago Bulls sea, 1998–99 Chicago Bulls sea

The 2008–09 Chicago Bulls season is the 43rd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Key dates
Offseason
Roster notes
Regular season
Playoffs
Season
Awards
Records
Draft picks
Trades
References

Key dates

June 26: The 2008 NBA draft took place in New York City.

July 1: The free agency period started.

Offseason

The Bulls re-signed Luol Deng to a 6-year $71 million contract on July 30, 2008. Ben Gordon signed a 1-year contract on October 2, 2008.

Roster notes

Luol Deng also holds Sudanese citizenship, but he plays for the British national team.

Ben Gordon also holds American citizenship, but he plays for the British national team.

Joakim Noah also holds American and Swedish citizenship, but he plays for the French national team.

Regular season

The Bulls were having a meager year floating under .500 and on February 18, 2009 they made their first of several trades sending Andrés Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons, Michael Ruffin to the Sacramento Kings for Brad Miller and John Salmons. Then on February 19, 2009, the NBA trade deadline, the Bulls traded Larry Hughes to the New York Knicks for Tim Thomas, Jerome James, and Anthony Roberson. Later that day the Bulls made the third trade in a span of less than 24 hours sending swingman Thabo Sefolosha to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2009 first round pick.

The trades brought a late-season push for the Bulls, which finally clinched a playoff berth on April 10, 2009, their fourth in the last five years. Then on April 13, 2009 they clinched the 7th place in the east by beating the Detroit Pistons and remained .5 game ahead of Philadelphia 76ers for the 6th spot with one game remaining. The Bulls though lost their last game to Toronto and the 76ers beat Cleveland, who did not play most of its best players. The Bulls finished 7th even though they tied Philadelphia at 41-41. The Bulls got matched up with a Garnett-less Boston in the first round of the playoffs.

Playoffs

The Bulls-Celtics series became the first playoff series in NBA history to have 4 games go into overtime.

Season

*Statistics with the Chicago Bulls

Awards

Derrick Rose = Rookie of the Year

Derrick Rose won the All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge

Derrick Rose was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team

Records

4—Overtime games played in this series

7—Overtime periods played in this series, more than any other NBA team has played in an entire postseason.

Draft picks

The Bulls beat the odds and won the NBA Draft Lottery on May 20, 2008. The Bulls vaulted from the ninth spot to win the NBA Draft Lottery in Secaucus, NJ, and obtain the first pick in the June 26 NBA Draft. Chicago had a 1.7 percent chance of winning and were represented by Executive Vice President, Business Operations Steve Schanwald. The Heat had the best odds of securing the top selection and will pick second followed by the Timberwolves and Sonics.

Trades

References

2008–09 Chicago Bulls season Wikipedia

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