2005–06 Chicago Bulls season

The 2005–06 Chicago Bulls season was one of mixed results. While the Bulls reached the playoffs for a second straight season, they posted a record of just 41-41 in the regular season, 6 wins fewer than they had recorded in the previous year even though the roster was mostly the same.

Offseason

The Bulls did not have any picks in the 2005 draft. The core of the team remained based around Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Kirk Hinrich, all draft picks from the previous two years. The Bulls did not sign any household name players through free agency, but did add Malik Allen, Darius Songaila and Michael Sweetney (through the trade explained below), all of which would split time between the starting lineup and the bench. They also added Tim Thomas; however due to a clash with Scott Skiles he appeared in just 3 games for the Bulls and would eventually move to the Phoenix Suns. The Bulls also traded their once first-round draft pick Eddy Curry to the Knicks after Curry missed some of the 2004-2005 season with a heart condition.^[1] The move was met with some controversy, although it ended up resulting in high draft picks for the Bulls due to the Knicks' poor records in the coming seasons.

NBA Draft

The Bulls did not have any draft picks in 2005.

Regular season

Standings

Postseason

At 41-41, the Bulls managed to sneak into the Eastern Conference Playoffs as a 7th seed. They would lose in the first round to the eventual NBA Champion Miami Heat, although they did manage to stretch the best of 7 series to 6 games, ending a season in which they played very inconsistently on a somewhat positive note. A year later, the Bulls would defeat the Heat in a sweep in the first round.

East First Round

(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Chicago Bulls

Regular-season series

Miami won 2–1 in the regular-season series:

Last Playoffs meeting: 1997 Eastern Conference Finals (Chicago won 4–1)

Roster

2005-06 Chicago Bulls roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From 4.5 !PF 35 USA ! Allen, Malik 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Villanova 2.0 !SG 13 USA ! Basden, Eddie 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Charlotte 6.0 !C 3 USA ! Chandler, Tyson 7000215899999999999♠7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Dominguez HS (CA) 3.0 !SF 9 UK ! Deng, Luol 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Duke 1.0 !PG 21 USA ! Duhon, Chris 7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Duke 2.0 !SG 7 UK ! Gordon, Ben 7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Connecticut 1.0 !PG 32 USA ! Regan, Dan 7000162560000000000♠5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Minnesota 2.0 !SG 1 USA ! Graham, Stephen 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Oklahoma State 4.5 !PF 24 USA ! Harrington, Othella 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Georgetown 1.0 !PG 12 USA ! Hinrich, Kirk 7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Kansas 3.0 !SF 6 USA ! Holcomb, Randy 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) San Diego State 1.0 !PG 1 USA ! Livingston, Randy 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 209 lb (95 kg) LSU 3.0 !SF 5 ARG ! Nocioni, Andres 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Argentina 1.0 !PG 15 USA ! Pargo, Jannero 7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Arkansas 2.0 !SG 52 USA ! Piatkowski, Eric 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Nebraska 6.0 !C 45 AUS ! Schenscher, Luke 7000215899999999999♠7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Georgia Tech 4.5 !PF 25 LTU ! Songaila, Darius 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 248 lb (112 kg) Wake Forest, North Carolina 4.5 !PF 50 USA ! Sweetney, Michael 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Georgetown 3.0 !SF 30 USA ! Thomas, James 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) UT Austin 3.0 !SF 2 USA ! Thomas, Tim 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Villanova	Head coach Scott Skiles (Michigan State) Assistant coach(es) Ron Adams (Marquette) Jim Boylan (Marquette) Pete Myers (Arkansas–Little Rock) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Transactions

• August 8, 2005: Signed G Eddie Basden
• August 15, 2005: Resigned G Chris Duhon
• August 26, 2005: Resigned F Othella Harrington
• September 1, 2005: Resigned C Tyson Chandler
• September 2, 2005: Signed F Malik Allen
• September 23, 2005: Signed F Darius Songaila
• October 3, 2005: Resigned G Jannero Pargo
• October 4, 2005: Traded C Eddy Curry and F Antonio Davis to the New York Knicks for F Mike Sweetney, F Tim Thomas, G Jermaine Jackson, a conditional first round draft pick and two second round draft picks
• October 18, 2005: Waived G Jermaine Jackson
• January 5, 2006: Signed F Randy Holcomb to a 10-day contract
• January 17, 2006: Signed G Stephen Graham to a 10-day contract
• January 27, 2006: Signed F James Thomas to a 10-day contract
• March 1, 2006: Waived F Tim Thomas
• March 5, 2006: Signed C Luke Schenscher to a 10-day contract
• March 22, 2006: Signed G Randy Livingston to a 10-day contract

References