1999–2000 Chicago Bulls season

The 1999–2000 NBA season was the Bulls' 34th season in the National Basketball Association.^[1] The Bulls won the Draft Lottery, and selected Elton Brand out of Duke University with the first overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, and also drafted Ron Artest out of St. John's University with the sixteenth overall pick.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} During the off-season, the team acquired Hersey Hawkins from the Seattle SuperSonics,^{[7][8][9][10]} and signed free agent Fred Hoiberg,^[11] and re-signed former Bulls guard B. J. Armstrong, and former Bulls center Will Perdue, who both won championships from the team's first three-peat in the early 1990s.^{[12][13][14][15]}

However, the Bulls' struggles continued as they lost 26 of their first 28 games, posting 10 and 11-game losing streaks respectively.^[16] Along the way, the team signed free agent Chris Carr, who was previously released by the Golden State Warriors,^[17] and also signed three-point specialist Matt Maloney.^[18] At mid-season, Toni Kukoč was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, as the team acquired John Starks from the Warriors in a three-team trade.^{[19][20][21][22]} However, after just four games with the Bulls, Starks was released to free agency.^[23] The Bulls finished last place in the Central Division with a 17–65 record.^[16]

Brand averaged 20.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and shared Rookie of the Year honors with Steve Francis of the Houston Rockets;^[24][25][26] he also won the MVP award in the Rookie-Sophomore Game during the All-Star Weekend in Oakland, California.^[27][28] In addition, Artest averaged 12.0 points and 1.7 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, while Carr contributed 9.8 points per game off the bench, Hoiberg provided with 9.0 points and 1.3 steals per game, but only played just 31 games due to a knee injury,^[29] and Hawkins contributed 7.9 points per game. Randy Brown provided with 6.4 points and 3.4 assists per game, while Maloney contributed 6.4 points per game, and Dickey Simpkins averaged 4.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.^[30]

Following the season, Hawkins re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Charlotte Hornets,^[31][32] while Brown signed with the Boston Celtics,^[33] Maloney signed with the Atlanta Hawks, and Carr, Armstrong, Simpkins and Perdue were all released to free agency.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	1	Elton Brand	PF	United States	Duke
1	16	Ron Artest	SF/SG	United States	St. John's
2	32	Michael Ruffin	PF	United States	Tulsa
2	49	Lari Ketner	C	United States	Massachusetts

1999–2000 Chicago Bulls roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From C 22 Anstey, Chris 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 249 lb (113 kg) 1975–01–01 Australia G 11 Armstrong, B. J. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1967–09–09 Iowa G/F 15 Artest, Ron  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1979–11–13 St. John's G/F 25 Benjamin, Corey  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1978–02–24 Oregon State F/C 42 Brand, Elton 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1979–03–11 Duke G 1 Brown, Randy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1968–05–22 New Mexico State G/F 43 Carr, Chris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 1974–03–12 Southern Illinois G 3 Hawkins, Hersey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1966–09–29 Bradley G/F 20 Hoiberg, Fred 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1972–10–15 Iowa State G 12 Maloney, Matt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1971–12–06 Penn C 32 Perdue, Will 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1965–08–29 Vanderbilt F 51 Ruffin, Michael 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 246 lb (112 kg) 1971–01–21 Tulsa F/C 8 Simpkins, Dickey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 248 lb (112 kg) 1972–04–06 Providence

Head coach Tim Floyd Assistant coach(es) Bill Berry Bill Cartwright Phil Johnson Fred Tedeschi (trainer) Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: February 18, 2000

• Point guard Khalid Reeves was waived on January 4, 2000.
• Shooting guard John Starks was waived on March 21, 2000.

• Elton Brand, NBA Rookie of the Year Award (shared with Steve Francis)
• Elton Brand, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
• Ron Artest, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team

Player Transactions Citation:^[34]

• [1]
• [2]
• [3]