Top 5 players from Chicago Bulls who could've won the NBA Championship but didn't

#3 Joakim Noah

Joakim Noah (#55) of the Memphis Grizzlies

Joakim Noah was selected with the ninth overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2007 NBA draft. He spent nine seasons with the team, making two All-Star appearances in his career, both in a Bulls uniform. In the 2013-14 season, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

In terms of his playoff success, Noah was part of the Chicago Bulls team that reached the 2011 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. But the Bulls lost that series in five games to LeBron James and the Miami Heat. That was their deepest run since the 1998 season, when they won the NBA Finals.

While Noah is not an elite scorer, he made more of an impact at the defensive end. He was part of the reason the 2010-11 Chicago Bulls finished the season ranked first in defensive rating.

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#2 Luol Deng

DeMar DeRozan (#10) of the Toronto Raptors dribbles the ball as Luol Deng (#9) of the Miami Heat

The Phoenix Suns selected Luol Deng with the seventh overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, but immediately traded him to the Chicago Bulls. He made an instant impact as a rookie, helping the team reach the NBA playoffs after a seven-year hiatus.

While he was an efficient scorer, he was also an elite perimeter defender. During his ten-year stint with the Chicago Bulls, he averaged 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Despite his efficiency at both ends of the court for the Chicago Bulls, he fell short of a championship in 2011. That year, the Bulls got knocked out in the Conference Finals in five games by the Miami Heat. According to Eric Bressman of Dime magazine, Deng was the;

"Most underrated player who was never the face of the franchise but always the backbone."

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#1 Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose (#4) of the New York Knicks

Derrick Rose was by far the best thing that has happened to the Chicago Bulls since Michael Jordan. He was the spark for a franchise that struggled to win post-Jordan.

Rose was selected with the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. That bore immediate fruit for the Chicago Bulls. After several awe-inspiring performances, he won the 2011 MVP award, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to win it and also the second player behind MJ in franchise history.

Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in Round 1 Game 1 of the 2012 NBA playoffs. After missing a full season due to injury, his career took a downward spiral as he battled several other career-ending injuries.

Many wonder what would have been if the three-time All-Star had remained healthy in his peak period. After several years of rehabilitation and bouncing around from one team to another, D-Rose is gradually finding his form.

Derrick Rose partnered with Tom Thibodeau midway through the 2020-21 season. helping the New York Knicks reach the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season. It is also worth noting that he was the best player for the Knicks in their first-round tie against the Atlanta Hawks, which the Knicks eventually lost.