Chicago Bulls – Bullslive.com
Last Year’s Record: 49-33, 3rd in Central Division, 5th in Eastern Conference
Key additions: JamesOn Curry, Thomas Gardner, Aaron Gray, Joakim Noah, Joe Smith
Key losses: Well, you said "key" right?  P.J. Brown, Michael Sweetney may or may not qualify

1. What significant moves were made during the offseason?

With the number 9 pick in the NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected Joakim Noah.  While there are many skeptics, I think this was a lock at number 9.  There was no passing Noah up at that point.  And truthfully, while his personality may not, his basketball style fits right in with the Bulls:  He plays hard, he plays defense, he rebounds, and he can find the open man.  The other big addition was Joe Smith.  However, he is aging by the hour, and has yet to see any pre-season action due to minor injuries.  Rumors swirled about the Bulls possibly making a trade for superstars Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol, or Kobe Bryant.  Nothing ever developed.  Paxson appeared to put it simply by saying, "I do not want to part with Luol Deng."   However, the season has not started yet, and there are still rumors in the air. 

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

Solid Defense: The Bulls’ gave up the lowest field goal percentage to opponents for 2 of the last 3 years.  The one year they missed that title, they were #3.  It’s no secret that the Bulls play defense, and play it hard and well.  With the acquisition of Wallace last year and Noah this year, they don’t appear to be moving away from that distinction.  Hinrich is probably the most underrated defensive player in the East.

Young and Energetic:  The Bulls are young and can run with any team in the League.  They can move the Ball well, and shoot it well too.  Gordon is an explosive scorer who scores in spurts and can bring the Bulls back from behind.  Deng appears to be emerging as a quick scorer as well, and may lead the team in scoring for the first time.  The no-longer-baby Bulls are growing up in terms of experience, but keeping their energy as well.

Depth: The team is extremely deep.  We are not sure of the 5th and final starter yet, but lets assume for a second Joe Smith gets it. The bench would look like this: Andres Nocioni, Chris Duhon, Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, Aaron Gray, Thomas Gardner, Thabo Sefolosha, Viktor Khyrapa - this is just the bench, folks!  Starters would include Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Wallace, and Smith.

Team Chemistry:  For starters, the same group of people is again looking at the same group of people.  Of the Bulls’ top ten players from last year, 9 are still here.  Deng, Gordon, Hinrich, Wallace, Nocioni, Thomas, Duhon are all back.  They know each other. 

Play Hard: The team does not know the meaning of the word quit.  And if they did, they probably would not be getting that many minutes from Coach Skiles.

Winners elsewhere: Look at the amount of winners on this team.  Gordon at UConn, Hinrich at Kansas, Noah at Florida, Big Ben with the Pistons, Duhon and Deng at Duke, Deng with Great Britain.  Though they may not have a lot of NBA Finals experience, the Bulls players have played in numerous big games before.

Luol Deng: Look for Luol Deng to take over as the team’s leading scorer.  He has improved remarkably this summer, and is still younger than most people realize (22).  With three years under his belt, he is ready to be aperenniall all-star, and he is the main reason John Paxson did not make a blockbuster trade this past summer.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

It’s no secret that ever since the Eddy Curry trade, the Bulls have lacked an inside scoring presence.  Supposedly Deng has worked on his post-game this summer, but we are yet to see what will come of that.  He has fared just about average in posting up in the pre-season thus far.  But if the Bulls’ perimeter shot is not falling in any particular game, it will be an uphill battle for them most of the way.  Steps were taken to improve this, but Noah may not have been the best bet to fill this gap.  Gray has shown some promise in the post.  It will come down to the Bulls guards having to drive more rather than relying on the jumper, and the 6-9 Deng improving on his inside game.

Other weaknesses include Ben Wallace’s free-throw shooting, minor injuries surrounding the team’s players, reliance on the jumper, turnovers from bench players, no clear superstar to take over a game, and Ben Gordon’s height makes it tough sometimes for him to defend taller guards.

4. What are the goals for this team?

Anything short of the Finals will be a disappointment for this team.  The Bulls have their work cut out for them though.  The Celtics will obviously be a force and  a serious contender in the East.  The Pistons and Cavs also remain strong with similar teams from the 2006-2007 season.

5. With the lack of a true super-star on the team, can the Bulls win a title?

See Detroit Pistons of 2004.  This is seemingly the only team to win a title in the not so recent past without a truly defined superstar.  This has been one of the prime reasons sports columnists list as why the Bulls will not win, and why the Bulls should have traded for Garnett and now Kobe Bryant.  I disagree.  I can agree that the Detroit team was the exception, not the norm.  But for starters, one of that Detroit team’s stars, Ben Wallace, is now with the Bulls.  In addition the league is changing in a dynamic way.  Zone defenses can break down a superstar more than ever.  In the past you couldnt double team a player without the ball, and could not lock a zone down to prevent one player from scoring.  A solid and complete team may now more easily shut down one star player.  In the 4 complete years of zone defense being allowed in the NBA, the Lacking-A-Superstar-Pistons made the finals twice.  And won it once.  Furthermore, Luol Deng has the time and talent to emerge as the superstar the Bulls were looking for.  And if he does not, at worst the Bulls have a collection of semi-stars, who can definitely pave the way to a title.  My prediction is bold, but one that leaves the Bulls with 60 wins at the end of the season, playing the Pistons or Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.