Despite all the Derrick Rose drama of “will he or won’t he play this year,” the Chicago Bulls did rather well for themselves relying on a collective effort to fill the void left by Rose. With their superstar returning for next season, the Bulls are a couple of minor acquisitions away from once again being a title contender.
(Breaking: Bulls reportedly interested in dealing Luol Deng to the Wizards)
(Breaking: TMZ reports that Scottie Pippen knocked some dude out )
Chicago Bulls (45-37 last year)
2012-13 Season Summary:
With all the talk of Derrick Rose’s recovery often overshadowing the actual product on the court, the Chicago Bulls quietly put together a very respectable season by earning the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and winning their first round playoff series against Brooklyn. Without Rose, the Bulls just didn’t have enough to make more of a postseason push.
Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer primarily carried the offensive load though Boozer once again lacked the consistency or star power to redeem his outrageously overpriced contract. Joakim Noah did all the other typical Joakim Noah things particularly on the defensive end though he once again battled nagging injuries throughout the season.
Perhaps the biggest development was the continual improvement of second year wing, Jimmy Butler who by the end of the season, was going ironman style and playing all 48 minutes in the playoffs. Chicago also got sparks from late free agent signees Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli who added some needed offense at guard. Rip Hamilton and Kirk Hinrich were solid role players at times but fresh off his new contract extension, Taj Gibson failed to take the next step in his game as the main frontcourt reserve.
2013-14 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Joakim Noah
PF: Carlos Boozer/Taj Gibson
SF: Luol Deng
SG: Jimmy Butler/^Richard Hamilton
PG: Derrick Rose/Kirk Hinrich/Marquis Teague
NBA Free Agents:
^SG-Richard Hamilton (TO)
PG-Nate Robinson (UFA)
SG-Marco Belinelli (UFA)
C-Nazr Mohammed (UFA)
F-Vladimir Radmanovic (UFA)
F-Malcolm Thomas (UFA)
SG-Daequan Cook (UFA)
2013-14 Team Salary: approximately $73.2 million
Team Needs:
1. Get Rose Healthy: The Bulls had the best record in the NBA in 2011-12 before Rose’s devastating injury in the opening round of the playoffs. Rose played it safe all season choosing to sit rather than hurry back and risk a relapse of injury so that he could be at 100% for next season. After all that time, Rose better be at full-go and if so, there is no reason to think the Bulls can’t crawl back near the Heat at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
2. Shooting Guard: Hamilton has a five million dollar team option that I would be surprised if the Bulls picked up meaning both he and Belinelli will be free agents this off-season. Jimmy Butler proved he is more than capable of being the starting two guard, but Chicago needs to add a true shooter to the mix who can stretch defenses and allow Rose to do his work in attacking the basket. There should be some options available with their first round pick that could potentially fill this need.
3. Back-up Big: Who knew the Bulls would miss Omer Asik as much as they did? Nazr Mohammed was a short-term replacement but Chicago needs to find a more reliable back-up big man especially with the recent plantar problems history of Noah. This is another area the Bulls could look to address in the draft since there are some decent big men that should be available at #20.
OTHER NBA TEAM NEEDS PAGES:
Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Charlotte Bobcats
Cleveland Cavs
Dallas Mavericks
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Orlando Magic
Phoenix Suns
Portland Blazers
Sacramento Kings
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
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David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the college basketball and college basketball material at David_Kmiecik and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag.)
You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.