Now that the Bears hype has died down a bit and the focus is going to be on the Vikings soon, I'm going to take this chance to acknowledge that sports other than football exist in Chicago. I get as sick as anyone else about the over-coverage of the NFL on ESPN, and under-coverage of the NHL at that, but right now Basketball and Hockey have their regular seasons still a while off, baseball has just been terrible in Chicago, and well, the Bears are expected by a lot of fans here to be contenders, and just had a game where they were able to justify that school of thought somewhat. So, it's understandable that football would be so in demand right now. However, like I said, there are other sports in Chicago, and while basketball and hockey are still a while from starting, there is plenty to look at.
So we're going to take a look at the roster for the Bulls. This will include everyone who is signed with the Bulls as well as training camp invites that we know of. Let's start from the top.
Derrick Rose
The former MVP, who won the award his last full season in the league, will be back, and this time hopefully completely healthy. I'm among the group that supports him sitting it out last year. Even if he did come back in the Heat series, the Bulls were not winning the series. Rose would still be rusty and wouldn't have a very big immediate impact, and may have even wound up hurting the team due to that rust, which would need at least a week to be shaken off. The bottom line is that the risk vs. reward greatly favored keeping Rose on the bench, it just made much more sense.
Nobody knows exactly how he'll be when he does come back, but we do know that him at 90% is still much better than the rest of the players the Bulls have. Rose will likely have changed his game a bit and will hopefully have improved his jump shot. For the sake of his career, I really hope this is the case. Not only is he a nightmare when his jumper is going in, it will mean he doesn't have to drive as much and he can not go as hard on his body. Any way you look at it, he's probably still going to be a superstar.
Joakim Noah
Noah is the heart and soul of this team. His game isn't necessarily pretty. He forgets to box out often on rebounds, his jumper looks ridiculous, and sometimes his game just downright looks awkward. However, the guy hustles like nobody else in the league. He still is able to get his 10-12 points per game through put backs, the post skills he does have, and his occasional jumper. On top of that, he's better than most big men from the free throw line, even though it doesn't look good.
I expect to see more of the same from Noah. The one thing I will say that will be different is his minutes. It's not a matter at this point of if there is anyone else to put in there, but it's just obvious that his minutes have to be reduced at this point. Even Thibodeau, as stubborn as he is, knows that he has to reduce those minutes no matter what. The Bulls need all of their best players to be healthy going into the postseason this year. Bringing Noah down to about 32-34 minutes per game is a must for Thibodeau.
Luol Deng
Rose is the superstar, Noah is the heart and soul, and Deng is the glue for this team. There is no one thing that Deng does at a superstar level, but he does so many things well. He's a good mid-range shooter. He rebounds the ball well (especially well for a small forward, but he is taller than most small forwards). He passes the ball pretty well. Okay, well there is one thing he does at a superstar level, and that's defend. Deng is proof of how overrated defensive stats are. He constantly holds other small forwards below their averages when he's defending them.
Deng developed much quicker than expected in his career. After an especially good season during the '06/'07 season, he regressed a bit the next season, but soon after had settled in to what he's at now. He'll never set the world on fire on offense, but he's fairly reliable. On defense you know you're getting a good performance on almost every night.
Carlos Boozer
Boozer was the big consolation prize in the summer of 2010. After Stoudemire had signed with the Knicks, Joe Johnson and resigned with the Hawks, and Bosh and Wade went to the Heat, the Bulls needed to grab someone if they were going to be able to lure LeBron to Chicago. They went with Boozer, a former teammate of LeBron's in Cleveland. However, that wasn't enough and LeBron (who had probably already decided this a couple years prior) went with his buddies to Miami.
Boozer has been a target of a lot of shots from fans throughout his first few years in a Bulls uniform. Many of those are due to him not living up to his contract. We all know that fans tend to think that they're the ones paying the guy. Still though, that contract has prevented the Bulls from being able to do much in recent offseasons. However, it wasn't a contract that Boozer offered to himself. Let's remember that it was the Bulls that offered him the money. If you were offered $15 million per year to do anything, I'm sure you would take it.
Either way, Boozer is not much of a defender. He'll get that slap steal down low from time to time, but otherwise doesn't do much more than try to keep other bigs from getting too close to the basket. On offense it's another story though. He shoots right around 50% year in and year out and puts up scoring in that 15-20 ppg range along with right around 10 or more rebounds. Last year he averaged 16 ppg, 10 rpg, and shot 48% from the field. The results should be similar this year.
Jimmy Butler
Last season he was the darling of Bulls fans across the country, and even a lot of non-Bulls fans. For good reason as well. Jimmy Butler came from out of nowhere (well, nowhere to anyone who wasn't following him in college and into the draft) to become a guy who could play solid NBA starter offense and exceptional defense. Exceptional may even be a bit of an understatement. Butler has been nothing short of outstanding on defense, really since he came into the league. This past year he just has more of a chance to show it.
Butler was regularly holding guys down below their averages. He had a defining moment when he held Carmelo Anthony down to almost nothing late in a tight game against the Knicks, allowing the Bulls to pull out the win. When Luol Deng was out with injury Butler stepped in and made it seem like Deng had never been hurt.
I expect to see another step forward from Butler this season. I don't expect him to become a superstar or anything, and people calling him the next Scottie Pippen are out of their minds, but he's still going to be a good player all around. I expect him to eventually be the starting 3, but for now, he'll be starting at shooting guard.
Taj Gibson
Gibson has given Bulls fans a lot of hope over the years. I think a lot of fans are just now realizing that their hope was a little bit too high, but at the same time, the Bulls have a pretty good thing with him right now. Gibson's offense may still improve a bit. If he can get that jumper to be a consistent weapon, then he'll be much more consistent on offense (naturally). He'll never be a great offensive weapon, but he's a very good defender who is not only disruptive, but really does a great job of overcoming his lack of overall girth down low against some of the best bigs in the league on a regular basis.
Kirk Hinrich
I'm shocked that it's been over a decade now since the Bulls drafted him. I remember all of the events leading up to it. Jay Williams had been hurt in a motorcycle crash just a week or two before the draft that year, and with the 7th pick the Bulls suddenly had to do something to replace what looked like the point guard of the future for them. I was actually a bit upset when they wound up with Hinrich. I had wanted them to take TJ Ford instead. Ford was undersized, but I thought he would wind up the better player.
While Ford turned out to be a solid player, Hinrich's all around game made him superior. Hinrich's best season came with a beastly '06/'07 season that saw him average nearly 17 points, and 6 assists on 45% shooting, 41.5% from 3. He's not an athletic freak, but he plays good, fundamental basketball. He shows how much farther the mind will take you than athletic ability. Don't expect a huge season or anything. His minutes will likely be greatly reduced, but you can expect more of what he gave last season. He'll be a good defender who can knock down the occasional shot. He'll be the primary backup with occasional time spent as the 2 guard with Rose on the floor.
Mike Dunleavy
Yes, indeed Mike Dunleavy was the biggest offseason acquisition for the Bulls. He doesn't bring any one huge thing except for one thing, a thing the Bulls really need, shooting. Dunleavy has always been a great shooter. He was drafted 3rd overall in 2002 based on his offensive ability alone. The guy simply shoots lights out, something you can expect an aging player to be able to continue to do. On defense he's never been much, but he's willing, and with a Thibodeau defensive scheme, that can often be good enough. I expect him to be a solid bench shooter with a few other decent attributes.
Marquis Teague
Teague was drafted with the 29th pick in the 2012 draft as a freshman out of Kentucky. His older brother, Jeff, was a sophomore when drafted by the Atlanta Hawks. He didn't really start to break out until the playoffs his second season. If Marquis is able to break out in the playoffs this upcoming season it will be very bittersweet, as I can't see it happening without an injury to Rose or Hinrich. Either way, Teague has a ton of potential, and started to really flash it this past summer league, much like Butler did in the summer of 2012. Not saying Teague will have a sophmore campaign like Butler did, but he can very well start to show what he's able to do this next season. I expect him, when given the minutes, to show more consistency than he did last year when given minutes. I think he'll be solid at distributing the ball, and will feast on his ability to get to the rim and either pass it off or get a close shot.
Tony Snell
I must admit to having very high hopes for this kid. With how Thibodeau plays rookies, I don't expect to see him on the floor much, but he looks like he might be able to buck that trend and be the first rookie since Asik to get reasonable playing time. Snell is a good shooter with a very fluid offensive game. He's surprisingly athletic for a player as smooth as he is, and his lanky frame projects into a very good defender. Of course, all of this still has to be seen, but I can see him putting up solid numbers in limited playing time this upcoming season.
Nazr Mohammed
Mohammed made what was probably the favorite play of the year for a lot of Bulls fans when he roughed LeBron James up a little bit after James fell on him and wouldn't get up during the playoffs. I'm sure a lot of that play had to do with James flopping, as isn't uncommon with him (sorry, but it is the truth), but either way, it was nice for some Bulls fans to see James shoved down by a deep bench player. Mohammed isn't going to bring a lot of skill, but he's got a decent jumper out to 12 feet and can play some decent physical defense. He's a backup center in every sense of the word.
Erik Murphy
Murphy was the second round pick by the Bulls in this past year's draft. He really filled two needs for the Bulls. One was a shooter, as Murphy was absolutely ridiculous from distance last year for Florida. He seems to follow that Matt Bonner or young Brian Scalabrine blueprint, and who knows, maybe with more of a post game. His scouting report does say that he has some post moves that will make him able to work in the post as well. Not much is said about his defense, and his rebounding doesn't seem to be anything above average for a guy in the 6'10" to 6'11" range. Still, off the bench he can wind up being a solid piece for this team.
Dexter Pittman
Pittman is being brought on for training camp. The Bulls do need one more guy who can play center, as Murphy is more of a power forward who just has enough size to occasionally play center, and Gibson is more of a center against small lineups. Pittman has all the size, but his stamina issues will limit him to 10-15 minutes per night throughout the course of a season. He's not particularly skilled, but can project to be a good defensive center under a guy like Thibodeau, who got a ton out of Kendrick Perkins. Pittman's overall size could be an asset, but he still has yet to show much at the NBA level. At age 25 he still has time, as bigs usually take a bit longer, but the clock is ticking on him and his career. If he's put in the right role he can make himself look good. If he's given 10-15 minutes per game, comes off as a deep bench center (even if he's the second off the bench), and puts up solid rebounding numbers while playing solid defense, he'll be worth holding on to.
Mike James
James was well liked in Chicago his first time around. He wasn't anything special as a whole, but he did have several very good games. James is 38 years old, and will be on the verge of his 39th birthday once the finals come to a close, so he's not young by any means. However, deep off the bench he still has the skill to be an exciting player on the offensive end of the floor. I don't expect him to wind up making the team, but I applaud the Bulls for at least giving him a chance. He clearly wants to continue to play, and if he can show that he can still compete, he should be given that chance.
I'm sure there will be more to come as we come closer to the preseason, but for right now that is who the Bulls will have going into training camp. That's 14 solid guys, sure, the rookies may flop, James may not be at an NBA level anymore and Pittman may not be able to stick, but you can rest assured that there will be more guys brought in for training camp. The Bulls will surely have a solid group of guys once the season starts.
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