The Future that Never Happened.

Flashback to the 2001 NBA Draft and you will remember that there was quite a buzz in the air surrounding two 7 footers named Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler.  They both were coming out of high school at the raw age of 18 and were supposed to be the future of the NBA.  The Chicago Bulls were officially in the post Jordan era and needed to do something to stay relevent.   After drafting Eddy Curry with the 4th overall pick they chose to ship 20-10 (avg's) Elton Brand to the lowly Clippers in exchange for the draft rights of Tyson Chandler.  This was it, the recipe for success, draft two high school superstars pair them together and take over the league...but it never happened. 

The Bulls had warning signs, as much as they heard praises they also hear rumblings of Curry being un-motivated and Tyson Chandler having a glass ceiling on his skill level.  But they didn't listen, or rather he (Jerry Krause) didn't listen and stuck by his motto that "organizations (not players) win championships" and selected both high schoolers.  The plan was a good one, dominant post in Curry, and use Chandler as the new KG on the wing.  It wouldn't matter who ran the point, and you could always attract a shooter via free agency.  Good plan, wrong players.  Take a look at what went wrong...

EDDY CURRY

The young Bull was dubbed as the new Shaq and was supposed to take over the Eastern Conference that was void of an established big man.  In his first season Curry saw limited action and you could tell the game was moving too fast for him.  His 2nd year with the team was better with averages of 10 ppg and 6rpg repectivley, but still didn't live up to the hype.  The 04-05 campaign was hit breakout year in whcih he led the team in scoring and to the playoffs, but missed the last 19 games and the post season due to an irregular heartbeat.  Curry was traded to the New York Knicks the following season and has struggled to live up to expectations ever since. 

TYSON CHANDLER

The 7 Foot phenom was dunking and blocking shots so loudly in California that he was ranked the #1 high school player in the nation.  He wa basically traded for Elton Brand on draft night and was viewed as the new KG.  Much like Curry his rookie year was a learning curve in which he only aveeraged 6 points per game.  The 03-04 season Tyson was plauged by back problems and he struggled to stay on the floor due to foul problems.  After Curry was traded he received a contract extension woth about $63 million dollars.  In 2006 Chandler and his huge contract were traded to New Orleans and his career caught daylight after pairing up with Chris Paul.  Sadly, the duo has split up with Chandler now a member of the Charlotte Bobcats. 

These two careers although not over, thus far have not lived up to the hype.  Imagine if Chandler and Curry would have taken over the league like LeBron and Melo then the Bulls would have still been winning Championships and Jerry Krause's famous line might have been true.