Thaddeus Young Confirms a Chicago Bulls Rumor

The Chicago Bulls have high hopes that Coby White can become their point guard of the future. He has plenty of work to do though. While he can throw some terrific passes, his decision-making is not where it needs to be. That is why the team knew it would need a veteran in place to handle the job until he was ready. They eventually settled on Tomas Satoransky via a sign-and-trade agreement with the Washington Wizards. However, fellow new addition Thaddeus Young confirms it was almost very different.

Nearly two weeks ago, Bulls insider K.C. Johnson revealed on Twitter that the team was in hot pursuit of Indiana Pacers point guard Darren Collison. The belief was they were the clear frontrunner for his services and were close to signing him before the 31-year old, who had already played for five different teams in his NBA career, decided to retire instead.

Young was his teammate for the past two seasons. He told Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic that there was indeed some interest from both sides. In the end, Collison just no longer had the drive to move to another city to continue his career.

Before he signed a three-year, $41 million deal to help build the Bulls’ culture and get Chicago back into the postseason, Thaddeus Young thought there was a chance a former Pacers teammate would join him.

“We didn’t talk about it, but I knew there was some interest,” Young said of the Bulls’ would-be pursuit of Darren Collison.

Collison unexpectedly announced his intentions to retire hours before the start of free agency, walking away from a likely eight-figure annual salary and a starting point guard role in Chicago.

Thaddeus Young is determined to change the Bulls culture

There is no question Collison would've been a big help in Chicago. He averaged 11.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.6 rebounds per games last season. His experience and hard-working approach would've been a nice presence in that locker room. Young though wishes him nothing but the best and is fully prepare to do whatever it takes to get the Bulls culture back to winning.

He's no stranger to facing this sort of task. He arrived in Philadelphia back in 2007 with a team that had a winning record just once the previous four years. Thanks to his efforts, the team made the playoffs four times over the next five seasons and won their first series in 2011-2012 for the first time in almost a decade. He also helped elevate the Pacers to back-to-back 48-win seasons despite losing Paul George.

Having Collison helped, but it doesn't change the task that's before him.