Despite a modest eight points and 10 rebounds a night, Tyson Chandler has helped make the Bulls a defensive juggernaut. Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images

Chicago's midseason turnaround and impending return to the postseason may not be the most inspiring or entertaining story of the 2004-05 season, but it is far and away one of the most surprising developments we've seen all year. Not only is the Bulls' run unprecedented for a team so young it cannot be easily explained by a renewed commitment to hard work and tight defense.

What separates these Bulls from a long list of plucky overachievers is their happy marriage of youth and experience. Other teams have snuck in the back door of the playoffs with a band of cagey vets and the occasional lottery pick. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the countless franchises who adopt a youth movement, standings be damned, and develop for the future. But never has the NBA seen such a wildly successful integration of these two different philosophies. And this Chicago team isn't sneaking in the back door, my friend, not when it currently boasts the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

This is wonderful news for Chicago GM John Paxson, who inherited a mess (however potential-laden) after Jerry Krause retired two years ago. Though no one could argue with Pax's court-savvy after his successful 11-year playing career, he happened upon his latest job boasting a relatively light résumé, consisting of a single year as a Bulls assistant coach (sitting behind the bench, to boot) and a stint as their radio analyst.

His tenure began inauspiciously when he was forced into drafting a playmaker following Jay Williams' horrific motorcycle accident. He then turned down a chance to draft Dwyane Wade a week later when the Toronto Raptors offered to swap their fourth pick in the 2003 draft for Chicago's seventh, plus Donyell Marshall. Trying to provide the Bulls' youthful core some sense of leadership, Paxson signed Scottie Pippen and Kendall Gill as free agents, an experiment that failed under the weight of both players' injuries.

Faced with a disappointing 4-10 start to '03-04, Paxson moved swiftly in canning Bill Cartwright as coach, reluctantly dropping the axe on a former teammate, and set to destroying a roster that had lived off its own promising potential for too long. Instead, Paxson tied his -- and Chicago's -- fortunes to a pair of point guards. Former Magic quarterback Scott Skiles was introduced as the new coach sporting a reputation as someone players would rather strangle than play for. And rookie guard Kirk Hinrich was handed the keys to the team after being considered little more than a consolation prize in the LeBron/Carmelo sweepstakes.

Paxson then set about rebuilding the roster. Jalen Rose and Marshall were shipped to the Raptors for Antonio Davis. Though Davis' stats have paled in comparison to Rose's, and though his salary is the equal of Rose's eight-figure mark, the bruising forward/center has been Chicago's rock since coming to the Bulls in Dec. '03.

A call was then made to everyone's favorite trading partner, Knicks GM Isiah Thomas, who again proved happy to unburden a team of a hefty contract. Eager to add a big-name free agent name to his already bloated New York payroll, Thomas engineered a sign-and-trade deal for flighty guard Jamal Crawford and overpaid hustler Jerome Williams, in exchange for a slew of expiring contracts. When ex-Knick Dikembe Mutombo threatened not to report, Paxson sent him to Houston for Eric Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin -- two veterans who, along with former Knick Othella Harrington, have been prominent members of Chicago's rotation (especially during the team's recent 10 wins in 11 games run).