During the 2004 off-season, Paxson traded a future draft pick to the Phoenix Suns in return for an additional pick in the 2004 draft. The picks were used to select University of Connecticut guard Ben Gordon and Duke small forward Luol Deng in the first round and Duke point guard Chris Duhon in the second. Paxson also signed free agent small forward Andres Nocioni, who had recently won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the Argentinian national team. After a discouraging 0-9 start to the 2004-05 season, by December the Bulls began to show the signs of improved play, relying on solid performances by their four rookies and by Hinrich, Chandler, and Curry. The Bulls made it over .500 on January 25, 2005, going 20-19 with a win over the Atlanta Hawks. It is the first time the Bulls are over .500 since November 2002 and the latest into the season they were over .500 since 1998.

The Bulls announced on October 5, 2004 that Scottie Pippen has retired. Pippen, 39, played in 1,178 games and averaged 16.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 5.2 apg and 1.96 spg during an illustrious career that placed him among the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of all-time in 1996 and brought the Bulls six NBA World Championship titles.

Still a team treading on potential, too young and too undisciplined to make a serious run at the playoffs. Kirk Hinrich is one of the Conference’s best point guards and Eddy Curry should be more dominant for a player his size, but this team lacks a true number one scorer and has a poor work ethic.