Bulls poised to step into upper echelon this summer

	With Kirk Hinrich crisply running the Bulls' offense, Chicago should make for an attractive destination for free agents. Bob Rosato/SI
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Wait till next year.

It's an old refrain in Chicago, where Cubs fans have embraced hopeless optimism as their winter blanket for the past 90 years.

When it comes to the local pro basketball team, however, there actually is good reason for the sentiment.

The Bulls are hanging tough in their first-round playoff series with the Heat, down 2-1 after Thursday night's 109-90 rout. Despite not having a true center, Chicago has been able to keep scrapping and clawing and finding a way to stay in games against Shaq & Co. With a little luck, the Bulls could pull off a huge upset.

But win or lose this series with the Heat, Chicago is a team on the rise. Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Tyson Chandler and Andres Nocioni form a talented, hardworking core that has made the playoffs each of the past two seasons. It's a sign of their effort and coaching that they have been able to finish first in the league in field goal percentage defense each of the last two years without a dominant big man under the basket.

Opposing players around the league talk about Chicago's precise execution and intense defense. TNT commentator Steve Kerr recently said the Bulls, with their youth and vigor and drive-and-kick approach, remind him of the Suns. He went so far as to add that Hinrich has a chance to be the "next Steve Nash."

But what really has Chicago fans excited is that the Bulls have the assets needed to maneuver themselves into the league's elite this summer.

GM John Paxson will have some $12 million to $15 million in salary cap room, which he says he intends to use on free agents. The Bulls also own their own first-round pick (No. 16) in the June draft, as well as New York's (courtesy of the Eddy Curry trade), which will fall somewhere between 1 and 5.

The Bulls also have the right to swap first-round picks with the Knicks in 2007. However, they probably wouldn't want to trade that away. Not with Greg Oden, the 7-foot Ohio State-bound center, expected to be the No. 1 overall pick that season.

At any rate, Chicago has the pieces to make a splash this summer and maybe take it to that proverbial next level.

So what should Paxson do?

Conventional wisdom is that he should package the picks and maybe one of his young stars -- either Gordon or Deng -- and try to acquire Kevin Garnett.

Sounds good in theory. After all, Garnett would give them the big man they need to draw double teams and the kind of veteran leader to take them to the top of the East. With his Chicago background, he presumably would welcome a chance to play in the Windy City.