So Long, Fred

Ever since the Bulls' dynasty broke up, there has only been one man to hold onto the head trainer position.  Fred Tedeschi has been at the helm since the 1998-99 season, experiencing the disastrous Floyd and Cartwright years, the promising Skiles era and the glory of Tom Thibodeau's tenure.  Now, he'll be leaving Chicago to take a job at Oregon State, where his daughter goes to graduate school.  Assistant trainer Jeff Tanaka will keep track of the players competing in this year's summer league.

Tedeschi has never been short on work with the players who have come through the organization.  Derrick Rose has been his most prominent patient, especially in the last two years.  He also dealt with 2013 playoff team, which had all sorts of problems, including Luol Deng's spinal tap and Kirk Hinrich's calf injury.  Deng was also hurt for a couple of other playoff runs and Tedeschi was the man to go through whenever updates were needed from him.  The full list of Bulls health issues since 1999 is too long to talk about here, but there was always the faith of Tedeschi coming through for the players who needed him.

While I won't pretend to know everything Tedeschi did behind the scenes, I'll sure miss his presence on the Bulls' bench, tending to resting players and heading to the floor when somebody went down (still shuddering about Rose's ACL tear).  Of course, I can't fault him for wanting to be near family.  I would definitely consider it too if I were in his spot.  Join me in thanking him for his 16 years of service to the organization and wishing him the best of luck in the future.

Enough goodbyes for now.  How about some hellos?  Like a quality free agent?  The Bulls have been working hard at that, so I think some sort of reward is in order.