1999–2000 Chicago Bulls season explained

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.^[24]

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;^{[25] [26] [27]} he also won the MVP award in the Rookie-Sophomore Game during the All-Star Weekend in Oakland, California.^{[28] [29]} 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,^[30] 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.^[31]

Following the season, Hawkins re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Charlotte Hornets,^[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.

Offseason

Draft

See main article: 1999 NBA draft.

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

Roster

Roster Notes

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

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

1999-2000 NBA Records
width=100	Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	TOR	UTA	VAN	WAS
	—	1–3	1–3	3–1	3–1	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	2–2	0–4	1–1	3–1	2–1	0–3	0–4	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–3
	3–1	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–1	2–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–2	0–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1
	3–1	3–1	—	4–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–2	2–2	3–1	2–0	2–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–1	0–2	2–0	3–0
Chicago	1–3	2–2	0–4	—	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	0–2	1–3	2–0	0–2	2–2	1–3	0–2	2–1	0–3	0–4	0–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–4	0–2	0–2	2–2
	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	—	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	2–0	0–2	0–3	1–3	0–2	2–2	3–1	2–1	0–4	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–4	0–2	2–0	3–1
	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	—	3–1	2–0	4–0	1–3	1–1	4–0	1–3	0–2	0–2	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–1	1–3	3–1	1–1
	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	—	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	3–1	1–3	0–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–0	2–2	2–2	1–1
	3–1	3–0	2–2	3–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	1–3	2–0	0–2	2–2	3–1	0–2	2–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–2	0–2	2–0	2–2
	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–4	2–2	0–2	—	1–3	0–2	1–3	0–4	1–1	1–1	1–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–4	0–4	1–3	0–4	0–4	0–2	0–4	3–1	1–1
	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–2	1–1	3–1	—	0–2	4–0	2–2	1–1	0–2	0–4	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–3	0–2	1–3	2–2	1–1
	3–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	—	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	3–1	2–2	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–1
	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–4	1–3	0–2	3–1	0–4	1–1	—	0–4	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–4	0–4	1–3	0–4	1–3	0–2	0–4	1–3	1–1
L.A. Lakers	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	3–1	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–1	4–0	—	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–2	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–1	3–1	4–0	1–1
	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–2	—	2–2	2–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	4–0
	4–0	2–1	1–3	3–1	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–3	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	0–2	2–2	—	0–2	1–3	0–4	4–0	0–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1
	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–2	2–2	2–0	3–1	4–0	1–1	3–1	0–4	0–2	2–0	—	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–0	3–1	4–0	0–2
	1–3	1–3	1–2	1–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	—	1–3	3–2	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–3
	1–2	2–2	3–1	3–0	1–3	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	4–0	1–1	3–1	—	3–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–3	0–2	2–0	2–2
	3–0	2–2	2–2	4–0	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–0	0–2	1–3	0–4	1–1	2–3	1–3	—	2–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	4–0
	4–0	3–1	1–3	4–0	4–0	2–0	0–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	3–0	1–1	3–1	1–3	2–2	—	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–0	1–1	2–0	3–1
	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–3	3–1	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–1	4–0	0–4	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	—	1–3	4–0	2–2	2–2	1–1	0–4	4–0	2–0
	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	4–0	2–2	0–2	4–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–1	—	4–0	3–1	4–0	1–1	3–1	3–1	2–0
	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–2	2–0	3–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–4	0–4	—	3–1	2–2	1–1	1–3	3–1	2–0
	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	3–1	1–1	4–0	4–0	1–1	4–0	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	1–1	2–2	4–0	1–1
	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	3–1	0–2	4–0	3–1	1–1	3–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–2	0–4	2–2	2–2	—	0–2	2–2	4–0	2–0
	2–2	2–2	1–3	4–0	4–0	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–0	2–0	1–3	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–2	0–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	0–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	—	1–1	1–1	2–2
	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–2	2–0	4–0	3–1	0–2	4–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–0	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	—	3–1	2–0
	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–3	2–2	0–2	1–3	2–2	0–2	3–1	0–4	1–1	1–1	0–4	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	0–4	0–4	1–1	1–3	—	1–1
Washington	3–1	1–3	0–3	2–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	1–3	2–0	3–1	2–2	0–4	1–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	—

Player statistics

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
	81	80	37.0	.482	.000	.685	10.0	1.9	0.8	1.6	20.1
	24	23	36.2	.381	.231	.761	5.4	5.2	1.8	0.8	18.0
	72	62	31.1	.407	.314	.674	4.3	2.8	1.7	0.5	12.0
	50	2	21.8	.400	.333	.858	3.2	1.6	0.6	0.3	9.8
	4	1	32.3	.349	.143	.714	3.5	2.7	1.3	0.1	9.3
	31	11	27.3	.387	.340	.908	3.5	2.7	1.3	0.1	9.0
	61	49	26.6	.424	.390	.899	2.9	2.2	1.2	0.2	7.9
	48	10	18.0	.414	.340	.598	1.8	1.1	0.6	0.5	7.7
	25	1	20.3	.341	.296	.765	2.0	2.6	0.9	0.1	7.6
	4	0	20.5	.324	.300	1.000	2.5	2.8	1.3	0.3	7.5
	27	18	21.6	.446	.448	.880	1.7	2.9	0.3	0.0	7.4
Kornél Dávid	26	5	17.0	.426	.000	.808	2.8	0.6	0.5	0.1	6.5
Randy Brown	59	55	27.5	.361	.500	.738	2.4	3.4	1.0	0.3	6.4
Matt Maloney	51	12	23.0	.358	.356	.822	1.3	2.7	0.6	0.1	6.4
Chris Anstey	73	11	13.8	.442	.167	.789	3.8	0.9	0.4	0.3	6.0
Dickey Simpkins	69	48	23.9	.405	.000	.542	5.4	1.4	0.3	0.3	4.2
Khalid Reeves	3	0	16.0	.250	.000	1.000	1.3	4.3	0.7	0.0	3.7
	67	15	15.1	.351	.000	.476	3.9	1.0	0.2	0.6	3.5
Michael Ruffin	71	6	13.7	.420	.000	.489	3.5	0.6	0.4	0.4	2.2
Lari Kenter	6	0	6.8	.400	.000	1.000	1.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	1.7

Awards and records

• 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

Transactions

Free agents

Additions
Player	Date signed	Former team
Ron Artest	July 15	St. John's (16th pick)
Elton Brand	July 26	Duke (1st overall pick)
Michael Ruffin	August 24	Tulsa (32nd overall pick)
Will Perdue	August 25	San Antonio Spurs
Cory Carr		Texas Tech (selected 49th in 1998)
Brett Robisch		unknown
Lari Ketner		Massachusetts Amherst (49th overall pick)

Player Transactions Citation:^[34]

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20120217092106/http://www.basket-stats.info/nba/1999-2000/teams/east/chicago.htm#Roster
• http://www.ibiblio.org/craig/draft/2000_draft/Picks/7_chicago.htm
• http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/Chicago_Bulls_History-24393-42.html

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1999-00 Chicago Bulls Roster and Stats.
2. News: Wise . Mike . PRO BASKETBALL; Safety First: The Bulls Make Brand the Top Pick . The New York Times . July 1, 1999 . November 27, 2022.
3. News: Heisler . Mark . Dukies Are Way Up . Los Angeles Times . July 1, 1999 . June 4, 2023.
4. News: Denlinger . Ken . Grizzlies Take Terps' Francis with No. 2 Pick . The Washington Post . July 1, 1999 . July 24, 2021.
5. News: Sheridan . Chris . Brand, Francis, Davis Go 1, 2, 3 . Associated Press . July 1, 1999 . July 15, 2022.
6. Web site: 1999 NBA Draft . Basketball-Reference . December 1, 2022.
7. News: Associated Press . Bulls Send Barry to Sonics . CBS News . August 12, 1999 . September 15, 2022.
8. News: Nelson . Glenn . SONICS -- Hawkins and Cotton Traded for Brent Barry -- Deal with Chicago Also Nets "Cap" Space . The Seattle Times . August 12, 1999 . July 3, 2023.
9. News: Associated Press . N.B.A.: Notebook . The New York Times . August 13, 1999 . June 27, 2022.
10. News: Smith . Sam . Bulls Get Some Cap Room . Chicago Tribune . August 13, 1999 . January 9, 2023.
11. News: Merkin . Scott . Bulls Fans Appreciate Brand, Artest--But Not for Voices . Chicago Tribune . October 18, 1999 . November 26, 2022.
12. News: Contributed Content . Bulls Sign Veteran B.J. Armstrong . Chicago Tribune . August 30, 1999 . August 15, 2024.
13. News: Associated Press . PLUS: PRO BASKETBALL -- CHICAGO; Bulls Re-Sign B. J. Armstrong . The New York Times . August 31, 1999 . August 15, 2024.
14. News: Smith . Sam . Bulls Just Being Prudent by Signing Recycled Products . Chicago Tribune . September 2, 1999 . November 16, 2022.
15. News: Wise . Mike . 1999–2000 N.B.A. PREVIEW; The West Is Still the Best . The New York Times . October 31, 1999 . January 13, 2022.
16. Web site: 1999–2000 Chicago Bulls Schedule and Results. Basketball-Reference. July 15, 2021.
17. News: Mitchell . Fred . NBA Road Has Been Bumpy, But Carr Still Driven . Chicago Tribune . January 22, 2000 . December 15, 2022.
18. News: Bulls Sign Maloney . United Press International . January 7, 2000 . October 17, 2022.
19. News: Wise . Mike . BASKETBALL; 76ers Acquire Kukoc in 3-Team Trade . The New York Times . February 17, 2000 . August 12, 2021.
20. News: Associated Press . Bulls Trade Kukoc to 76ers . Los Angeles Times . February 17, 2000 . September 12, 2022.
21. News: Bayless . Skip . With a Little Luck, Krause's Latest Could Pan Out . Chicago Tribune . February 17, 2000 . December 15, 2022.
22. News: Weinstein . Brad . Warriors Land Hughes in 3-Way Deal; 76ers Also Send Owens; Starks, Pick Go to Bulls . SFGate . February 17, 2000 . July 3, 2023.
23. News: Smith . Sam . Bulls Wave Bye-Bye to Starks . Chicago Tribune . March 22, 2000 . September 15, 2022.
24. Web site: 1999–2000 Chicago Bulls Schedule and Results. Basketball-Reference. July 15, 2021.
25. News: Associated Press . Brand, Francis Share Rookie-of-Year Award . Los Angeles Times . May 12, 2000 . July 28, 2017.
26. News: Brand, Francis Share Top Rookie Honor . United Press International . May 11, 2000 . November 17, 2022.
27. News: NBA & ABA Rookie of the Year Award Winners . Basketball-Reference . November 29, 2022.
28. News: Smith . Sam . Brand Leads Rookies to Win, Captures MVP Honor . Chicago Tribune . February 13, 2000 . November 26, 2022.
29. News: 2000 NBA Rising Stars: Rookies 92, Sophomores 83 (OT) . Basketball-Reference . January 15, 2022.
30. News: Smith . Sam . Artest's Showing Is Nothing Artistic . Chicago Tribune . December 19, 1999 . November 26, 2022.
31. Web site: 1999–2000 Chicago Bulls Roster and Stats. Basketball-Reference. July 15, 2021.
32. News: Hawkins Goes Back to Charlotte . United Press International . September 21, 2000 . June 27, 2022.
33. News: Celtics Sign Free Agent Randy Brown . United Press International . August 3, 2000 . September 16, 2022.
34. Web site: 1999–2000 Chicago Bulls Transactions. Basketball-Reference. July 25, 2021.