The 2008âÂÂ09 Chicago Bulls season is the 43rd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
In the playoffs, the Bulls lost to the defending NBA champions, the Boston Celtics, in seven games in the First Round. The defending champion Celtics were also taken to a seven game series the prior season in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks. They finished with a 41âÂÂ41 record for the second time in their past four seasons.
The Bulls re-signed Luol Deng to a 6-year $71 million contract on July 30, 2008. Ben Gordon signed a 1-year contract on October 2, 2008.
The Bulls were having a meager year floating under .500 and on February 18, 2009 they made their first of several trades sending Andrés Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons, Michael Ruffin to the Sacramento Kings for Brad Miller and John Salmons. Then on February 19, 2009, the NBA trade deadline, the Bulls traded Larry Hughes to the New York Knicks for Tim Thomas, Jerome James, and Anthony Roberson. Later that day the Bulls made the third trade in a span of less than 24 hours sending swingman Thabo Sefolosha to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2009 first round pick.
The trades brought a late-season push for the Bulls, which finally clinched a playoff berth on April 10, 2009, their fourth in the last five years. Then on April 13, 2009 they clinched the 7th place in the east by beating the Detroit Pistons and remained .5 game ahead of Philadelphia 76ers for the 6th spot with one game remaining. The Bulls though lost their last game to Toronto and the 76ers beat Cleveland, who did not play most of its best players. The Bulls finished 7th even though they tied Philadelphia at 41-41. The Bulls got matched up with a Garnett-less Boston in the first round of the playoffs.
|- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 1 | October 28 | Milwaukee | | Luol Deng (21) | Tyrus Thomas (10) | Derrick Rose (9) | United Center<br />21,762 | 1âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | October 31 | @ Boston | | Derrick Rose (18) | Joakim Noah (13) | Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich (3) | TD Banknorth Garden<br />18,624 | 1âÂÂ1
|- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 3 | November 1 | Memphis | | Derrick Rose (26) | Drew Gooden (20) | Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon (4) | United Center<br />21,785 | 2âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | November 3 | @ Orlando | | Drew Gooden (21) | Andrés Nocioni, Luol Deng (7) | Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, Luol Deng (3) | Amway Arena<br />15,606 | 2âÂÂ2 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | November 5 | @ Cleveland | | Ben Gordon (31) | Drew Gooden (9) | Derrick Rose (7) | Quicken Loans Arena<br />20,562 | 2âÂÂ3 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 6 | November 7 | Phoenix | | Ben Gordon (23) | Joakim Noah (14) | Ben Gordon, Derrick Rose (6) | United Center<br />21,967 | 3âÂÂ3 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 7 | November 8 | Cleveland | | Ben Gordon (29) | Tyrus Thomas (8) | Derrick Rose (9) | United Center<br />21,965 | 3âÂÂ4 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 8 | November 11 | Atlanta | | Derrick Rose (26) | Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Aaron Gray (10) | Derrick Rose (6) | United Center<br />21,738 | 3âÂÂ5 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 9 | November 13 | Dallas | | Ben Gordon (35) | Luol Deng, Derrick Rose (9) | Derrick Rose (6) | United Center<br />21,751 | 4âÂÂ5 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 10 | November 15 | Indiana | | Derrick Rose (23) | Andrés Nocioni (11) | Derrick Rose (8) | United Center<br />21,759 | 5âÂÂ5 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 11 | November 18 | @ L.A. Lakers | | Derrick Rose (25) | Andrés Nocioni (8) | Derrick Rose (9) | Staples Center<br />18,997 | 5âÂÂ6 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 12 | November 19 | @ Portland | | Andrés Nocioni (13) | Tyrus Thomas (7) | Lindsey Hunter, Ben Gordon (3) | Rose Garden<br />20,599 | 5âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 13 | November 21 | @ Golden State | | Larry Hughes (26) | Drew Gooden (16) | Derrick Rose (5) | Oracle Arena<br />19,596 | 6âÂÂ7 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 14 | November 23 | @ Denver | | Ben Gordon (28) | Joakim Noah (9) | Derrick Rose (6) | Pepsi Center<br />16,202 | 6âÂÂ8 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 15 | November 24 | @ Utah | | Derrick Rose (25) | Tyrus Thomas (8) | Derrick Rose (9) | EnergySolutions Arena<br />19,911 | 7âÂÂ8 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 16 | November 26 | @ San Antonio | | Ben Gordon (23) | Drew Gooden (12) | Derrick Rose (6) | AT&T Center<br />17,837 | 7âÂÂ9 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 17 | November 30 | @ Philadelphia | | Ben Gordon (21) | Drew Gooden (12) | Derrick Rose (10) | Wachovia Center<br />13,561 | 8âÂÂ9
|- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 18 | December 2 | Philadelphia | | Derrick Rose (24) | Tyrus Thomas (13) | Ben Gordon (4) | United Center<br />20,485 | 8âÂÂ10 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 19 | December 3 | @ Milwaukee | | Ben Gordon (22) | Drew Gooden (9) | Derrick Rose (9) | Bradley Center<br />13,684 | 8âÂÂ11 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 20 | December 6 | Washington | | Luol Deng (26) | Drew Gooden (10) | Derrick Rose (8) | United Center<br />21,741 | 9âÂÂ11 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 21 | December 9 | New York | | Drew Gooden (22) | Drew Gooden (16) | Derrick Rose (7) | United Center<br />19,519 | 10âÂÂ11 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 22 | December 12 | @ Memphis | | Ben Gordon (26) | Drew Gooden (13) | Derrick Rose (11) | FedExForum<br />17,132 | 10âÂÂ12 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 23 | December 13 | New Jersey | | Ben Gordon (29) | Joakim Noah (8) | Ben Gordon, Derrick Rose (6) | United Center<br />21,751 | 11âÂÂ12 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 24 | December 16 | @ Charlotte | | Ben Gordon (25) | Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden (9) | Derrick Rose (7) | Time Warner Cable Arena<br />11,225 | 11âÂÂ13 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 25 | December 17 | L.A. Clippers | | Andrés Nocioni, Ben Gordon (22) | Drew Gooden (11) | Derrick Rose (7) | United Center<br />20,102 | 12âÂÂ13 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 26 | December 19 | @ Boston | | Luol Deng (19) | Aaron Gray (8) | Derrick Rose (5) | TD Banknorth Garden<br />18,624 | 12âÂÂ14 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 27 | December 20 | Utah | | Ben Gordon (26) | Joakim Noah (9) | Ben Gordon, Derrick Rose, Andrés Nocioni (3) | United Center<br />22,046 | 13âÂÂ14 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 28 | December 23 | @ Detroit | | Larry Hughes (19) | Tyrus Thomas (12) | Ben Gordon (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills<br />22,076 | 13âÂÂ15 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 29 | December 26 | @ Miami | | Ben Gordon (15) | Aaron Gray (11) | Derrick Rose (3) | American Airlines Arena<br />19,600 | 13âÂÂ16 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 30 | December 27 | @ Atlanta | | Ben Gordon (33) | Tyrus Thomas (9) | Derrick Rose (7) | Philips Arena<br />18,031 | 13âÂÂ17 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 31 | December 29 | @ New Jersey | | Ben Gordon (24) | Andrés Nocioni (8) | Derrick Rose (13) | Izod Center<br />18,786 | 14âÂÂ17 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 32 | December 31 | Orlando | | Joakim Noah (19) | Joakim Noah (11) | Thabo Sefolosha, Andrés Nocioni (4) | United Center<br />21,861 | 14âÂÂ18
|- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 33 | January 2 | @ Cleveland | | Ben Gordon (22) | Joakim Noah (10) | Ben Gordon (4) | Quicken Loans Arena<br />20,562 | 14âÂÂ19 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 34 | January 3 | Minnesota | | Derrick Rose (22) | Aaron Gray (9) | Ben Gordon (6) | United Center<br />20,516 | 14âÂÂ20 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 35 | January 6 | Sacramento | | Ben Gordon (24) | Drew Gooden (10) | Derrick Rose (8) | United Center<br />18,060 | 15âÂÂ20 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 36 | January 9 | Washington | | Ben Gordon (22) | Drew Gooden (11) | Derrick Rose (9) | United Center<br />20,125 | 16âÂÂ20 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 37 | January 10 | Oklahoma City | | Ben Gordon (22) | Drew Gooden (12) | Derrick Rose (6) | United Center<br />20,469 | 16âÂÂ21 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 38 | January 12 | Portland | | Drew Gooden (22) | Drew Gooden (9) | Derrick Rose (10) | United Center<br />18,996 | 16âÂÂ22 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 39 | January 14 | @ Toronto | | Derrick Rose (25) | Luol Deng (14) | Derrick Rose (10) | Air Canada Centre<br />18,494 | 17âÂÂ22 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 40 | January 15 | Cleveland | | Luol Deng (22) | Luol Deng (8) | Derrick Rose (6) | United Center<br />21,297 | 18âÂÂ22 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 41 | January 17 | San Antonio | | Ben Gordon (20) | Andrés Nocioni (15) | Derrick Rose (8) | United Center<br />22,100 | 18âÂÂ23 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 42 | January 19 | @ New York | | Luol Deng, Derrick Rose (20) | Joakim Noah (18) | Derrick Rose (8) | Madison Square Garden<br />18,807 | 18âÂÂ24 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 43 | January 20 | Atlanta | | Ben Gordon (21) | Joakim Noah (11) | Kirk Hinrich (8) | United Center<br />20,389 | 18âÂÂ25 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 44 | January 23 | Toronto | | Ben Gordon (19) | Aaron Gray (7) | Kirk Hinrich (7) | United Center<br />20,886 | 18âÂÂ26 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 45 | January 25 | @ Minnesota | | Ben Gordon (23) | Joakim Noah (10) | Derrick Rose (7) | Target Center<br />16,009 | 18âÂÂ27 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 46 | January 28 | @ L.A. Clippers | | Luol Deng (23) | Tyrus Thomas (10) | Ben Gordon (8) | Staples Center<br />15,637 | 19âÂÂ27 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 47 | January 30 | @ Sacramento | | Ben Gordon, Luol Deng (20) | Tyrus Thomas (10) | Derrick Rose (11) | ARCO Arena<br />13,356 | 20âÂÂ27 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 48 | January 31 | @ Phoenix | | Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon (26) | Luol Deng (10) | Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon (6) | US Airways Center<br />18,422 | 21âÂÂ27
|- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 49 | February 3 | @ Houston | | Luol Deng (28) | Tyrus Thomas (13) | Derrick Rose (7) | Toyota Center<br />16,653 | 21âÂÂ28 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 50 | February 4 | @ New Orleans | | Derrick Rose (21) | Tyrus Thomas (10) | Ben Gordon (7) | New Orleans Arena<br />16,270 | 22âÂÂ28 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 51 | February 7 | @ Dallas | | Ben Gordon (28) | Tyrus Thomas (12) | Derrick Rose (9) | American Airlines Center<br />20,349 | 22âÂÂ29 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 52 | February 10 | Detroit | | Ben Gordon (24) | Joakim Noah (16) | Kirk Hinrich (5) | United Center<br />21,896 | 23âÂÂ29 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 53 | February 12 | Miami | | Ben Gordon (34) | Joakim Noah (11) | Derrick Rose (6) | United Center<br />21,801 | 23âÂÂ30 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 54 | February 18 | @ Milwaukee | | Kirk Hinrich (31) | Joakim Noah (9) | Derrick Rose (9) | Bradley Center<br />15,309 | 24âÂÂ30 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 55 | February 20 | Denver | | Ben Gordon (37) | Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas (12) | Kirk Hinrich (8) | United Center<br />21,790 | 25âÂÂ30 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 56 | February 22 | @ Indiana | | Ben Gordon (28) | Joakim Noah (12) | Derrick Rose (8) | Conseco Fieldhouse<br />17,083 | 25âÂÂ31 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 57 | February 24 | Orlando | | Derrick Rose (22) | Joakim Noah (8) | Derrick Rose, Brad Miller (5) | United Center<br />21,902 | 26âÂÂ31 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 58 | February 25 | @ New Jersey | | Ben Gordon (17) | Tyrus Thomas (11) | Kirk Hinrich, Derrick Rose (5) | Izod Center<br />14,075 | 26âÂÂ32 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 59 | February 27 | @ Washington | | John Salmons (25) | Brad Miller (11) | Luol Deng, John Salmons, Derrick Rose (3) | Verizon Center<br />18,114 | 26âÂÂ33 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 60 | February 28 | Houston | | Derrick Rose (22) | Joakim Noah (15) | Derrick Rose (7) | United Center<br />22,394 | 27âÂÂ33
|- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 61 | March 3 | @ Charlotte | | Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas (14) | Tyrus Thomas (12) | Derrick Rose (5) | Time Warner Cable Arena<br />14,216 | 27âÂÂ34 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 62 | March 4 | Golden State | | John Salmons (23) | Joakim Noah (17) | Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich (6) | United Center<br />20,108 | 28âÂÂ34 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 63 | March 6 | Milwaukee | | Ben Gordon (34) | Joakim Noah (13) | Ben Gordon (7) | United Center<br />21,186 | 29âÂÂ34 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 64 | March 9 | @ Miami | | Ben Gordon (43) | Joakim Noah (15) | Ben Gordon, Derrick Rose, Brad Miller, Kirk Hinrich (3) | American Airlines Arena<br />19,600 | 29âÂÂ35 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 65 | March 11 | @ Orlando | | John Salmons (18) | John Salmons (8) | Derrick Rose (3) | Amway Arena<br />17,461 | 29âÂÂ36 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 66 | March 13 | @ Philadelphia | | Derrick Rose (20) | Joakim Noah (9) | Derrick Rose (6) | Wachovia Center<br />17,563 | 29âÂÂ37 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 67 | March 14 | New Orleans | | Ben Gordon (27) | Brad Miller, Joakim Noah (9) | Derrick Rose (7) | United Center<br />22,135 | 30âÂÂ37 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 68 | March 17 | Boston | | John Salmons (38) | Brad Miller (14) | Derrick Rose (8) | United Center<br />22,107 | 31âÂÂ37 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 69 | March 18 | @ Oklahoma City | | Derrick Rose (25) | Tyrus Thomas (11) | Brad Miller (5) | Ford Center<br />19,136 | 32âÂÂ37 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 70 | March 21 | L.A. Lakers | | John Salmons (30) | Tyrus Thomas (16) | Ben Gordon (6) | United Center<br />23,011 | 32âÂÂ38 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 71 | March 23 | @ Washington | | Ben Gordon (21) | Joakim Noah (12) | Derrick Rose (8) | Verizon Center<br />15,421 | 33âÂÂ38 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 72 | March 24 | Detroit | | Kirk Hinrich (24) | Tyrus Thomas (12) | Kirk Hinrich (8) | United Center<br />20,502 | 34âÂÂ38 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 73 | March 26 | Miami | | John Salmons (27) | Tyrus Thomas (12) | Derrick Rose (7) | United Center<br />21,908 | 35âÂÂ38 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 74 | March 28 | Indiana | | Ben Gordon (25) | Derrick Rose (9) | Derrick Rose (8) | United Center<br />20,756 | 36âÂÂ38 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 75 | March 29 | @ Toronto | | Ben Gordon (37) | Brad Miller (10) | Derrick Rose (9) | Air Canada Centre<br />18,949 | 36âÂÂ39 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 76 | March 31 | @ Indiana | | Derrick Rose (24) | Derrick Rose (11) | Brad Miller (8) | Conseco Fieldhouse<br />15,687 | 36âÂÂ40
|- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 77 | April 4 | New Jersey | | Ben Gordon (18) | Joakim Noah (10) | Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich (5) | United Center<br />21,424 | 37âÂÂ40 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 78 | April 7 | New York | | Kirk Hinrich (25) | Brad Miller (12) | John Salmons, Derrick Rose (6) | United Center<br />20,764 | 38âÂÂ40 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 79 | April 9 | Philadelphia | | Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas (24) | Ben Gordon, Joakim Noah (7) | Derrick Rose (8) | United Center<br />20,791 | 39âÂÂ40 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 80 | April 11 | Charlotte | | Ben Gordon (39) | Joakim Noah (10) | Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah (7) | United Center<br />20,265 | 40âÂÂ40 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 81 | April 13 | @ Detroit | | Derrick Rose (24) | Joakim Noah (13) | Derrick Rose (8) | The Palace of Auburn Hills<br />22,076 | 41âÂÂ40 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 82 | April 15 | Toronto | | Ben Gordon (23) | Brad Miller (11) | Derrick Rose (11) | United Center<br />20,677 | 41âÂÂ41
The Bulls-Celtics series became the first playoff series in NBA history to have 4 games go into overtime.
|- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 1 | April 18 | @ Boston | | Derrick Rose (36) | Joakim Noah (17) | Derrick Rose (11) | TD Banknorth Garden<br />18,624 | 1âÂÂ0 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 20 | @ Boston | | Ben Gordon (42) | Brad Miller (9) | Kirk Hinrich (7) | TD Banknorth Garden<br />18,624 | 1âÂÂ1 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 23 | Boston | | Ben Gordon (15) | Joakim Noah (10) | 3 players tied (3) | United Center<br />23,072 | 1âÂÂ2 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 4 | April 26 | Boston | | Derrick Rose (23) | Derrick Rose (11) | Derrick Rose (9) | United Center<br />23,067 | 2âÂÂ2 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | April 28 | @ Boston | | Ben Gordon (26) | Joakim Noah (17) | Gordon, Rose (6) | TD Banknorth Garden<br />18,624 | 2âÂÂ3 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 6 | April 30 | Boston | | John Salmons (35) | Joakim Noah (15) | Rose, Hinrich (7) | United Center<br />23,430 | 3âÂÂ3 |- bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 7 | May 2 | @ Boston | | Ben Gordon (33) | Joakim Noah (15) | Ben Gordon (4) | TD Banknorth Garden<br />18,624 | 3âÂÂ4 |- | colspan=11 align="center"| Legend:
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Statistics with the Chicago Bulls
The Bulls beat the odds and won the NBA Draft Lottery on May 20, 2008. The Bulls vaulted from the ninth spot to win the NBA Draft Lottery in Secaucus, NJ, and obtain the first pick in the June 26 NBA Draft. Chicago had a 1.7 percent chance of winning and were represented by Executive Vice President, Business Operations Steve Schanwald. The Heat had the best odds of securing the top selection and will pick second followed by the Timberwolves and Sonics.