Even Derrick Rose Knows What Will Fix the Chicago Bulls

The NBA is a superstar league, but don't take my word for it.

Joining 670 The Score's Mully & Haugh on Wednesday morning, Derrick Rose spoke about his upcoming jersey retirement ceremony. The event will take place on Saturday night at the United Center. Following the team's meeting with the Boston Celtics, fans will be invited to stick around for when the franchise officially raises the iconic No. 1 into the rafters. Rose will be only the fifth player in the organization's history to receive the honor.

While the accomplishment will symbolize Rose's historic career, it will also serve as a meaningful reminder of what having a player of his caliber can do. No, the Bulls never ended up winning their sixth ring under Rose, but they got as close as they had since the Michael Jordan Era. More importantly, Rose at least convinced Chicagoans that it was possible. Fans do not forget that feeling, and the sold-out crowd this weekend will reflect that.

So, how can the Bulls create that feeling again and snap out of this streak of mediocrity? Even Rose knows it starts with finding the next him.

“From what I see and what I’ve seen so far, there is no knock on the guys on the current team, and I’m not trying to say this in a crass way, but you need a star. You need a superstar to come change certain things," Rose said. "I don’t know where you get that. I don’t know if you draft that. I don’t know if you trade for that. But whenever you have a team like this, and it’s stagnant and they’re trying to figure out who’s going to take the lead and they’re trying to find that identity, normally a star fixes that problem.”

It's that simple, or at least the mentality is.

For years, the Chicago Bulls have acted as if finding that star isn't necessary. They have preferred an approach that has revolved around having the whole be greater than the sum of its parts. Nothing reflects that more than the team they put together this season. While Arturas Karnisovas and Company at least pivoted to a slightly younger model, the philosophy has still centered around depth over superstardom.

Karnisovas even said exactly this before the season tipped off: "There's different structures that you can try to get to a championship. There's 2-3 star players and then a lot of role players or you can build it as 9-10 very good players."

Many deemed it a flawed mindset from the jump, and the Bulls' familiar 9th-place standing in the Eastern Conference has validated that judgment call. Every true contender in the NBA is lifted up by a clear-cut No. 1 player. Perhaps the era of the "Big 3" has subsided, but nothing can replace the importance of having that obvious centerpiece. And Rose knows it.

Rose wasn't even someone who embraced the idea of recruiting other big-name talent and forming a superteam. In other words, it says a lot that the former franchise face with an underdog mentality is calling out the team's lack of sheer starpower. It's another indication that something needs to be done.

To be sure, no one is saying it's easy to find this kind of player, but there is no doubt the Bulls can do more to put themselves in a position to. Whether it is prioritizing lottery position, stashing future assets, or making an aggressive trade, there are multiple paths you can take to try to solve this equation. Staying put for a fourth-straight Play-In Tournament appearance isn't one of them.

This is why the next couple of weeks will remain essential. The Bulls' current front office seems closer to making meaningful trade deadline moves than ever before, but they have also bypassed the opportunity over and over again in the past. Seeing is believing when it comes to this front office, so time will only tell if they finally woke up and smelled (listened to?) the roses.