Coach: Vinny Del Negro
2008-09 Record: 41-41
Pythagorean Record for 08-09: 40-42
Offensive Rating: 108.4 (14^th in the league)
Defensive Rating: 108.7 (18^th)
Possessions per 48: 93.1 (9^th)
Four Factors:

Roster (Red indicates new acquisition, Blue indicates rookie) Click to enlarge

Lets slow down a little bit with the “Derrick Rose is the next Chris Paul” talk. Did Rose have an excellent rookie season? Absolutely. Was he as good as everyone thought he was in the playoffs? Not so much. Does his rookie season compare with what Paul did? It’s not even close. Check out the following stat lines:

22.6 USG%, 108 ORtg, 28.8 AST%, 6.1 RB%, 51.6 TS%

22.2 USG%, 114 ORtg, 38.2 AST%, 8.5 RB%, 54.6 TS%

The first line is Rose. Now, that’s a perfectly respectable rookie season. It was good enough to win him the ROY award, and he deserved it. However, it pales in comparison to the bottom line, which is Paul’s rookie season. Paul was a much better offensive player, better rebounder (despite his smaller size), and that doesn’t even touch on defense, where Rose was abysmal last year. Good? Yes. Showcased a lot of potential? Yes. On par with the greatest point guard of this generation? No. I’m excited to see what Rose can do in his second year; how much of his potential he actually realizes, but I want to see him do it before I crown him the next big thing.

You know, I still think they should’ve drafted someone else, but Joakim Noah has done as much as you could expect from him. His ceiling was basically “Anderson Varejao,” and that’s what he’s been. He’s a slightly more aggressive Varejao, except that his defense isn’t as good at this point. He’s never going to be a good shooter or a legit offensive option, but he can defend, rebound and run the floor, and sometimes that’s all you need in a big man. If they can find a post scorer to complement him, it’s a frontcourt that can work. If not, well, Noah definitely isn’t going to provide that scoring.

I was going to call Tyrus Thomas my X-Factor, but that would mean I thought that he might possibly achieve his potential, and I’ve pretty much given up on him. After 3 years, he’s still just a really great athlete who doesn’t show much feel for the game. He kind of reminds me of Drew Gooden (though he’s a better athlete). Both guys with tons of potential, but they just don’t understand the game. Thomas will probably have a decent career, he’s too good an athlete not to, but he’s not ever going to become the dominant force his physical tools would allow. Since Chicago just drafted two power forwards in the first round, it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to move Thomas while he’s still got some value.

The player who may benefit the most from Ben Gordon leaving town is John Salmons. Relieved of the occasional point guard and distribution duties he was forced into in Sacramento, Salmons spent his time in Chicago focusing on one thing, scoring, and he did a pretty excellent job of it. Though he almost certainly won’t shoot 41% from deep again this season, he’ll probably take on a good bit of Gordon’s offensive load, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him average 20 ppg next year.

I’ve always liked Kirk Hinrich, and he’s become one of the better backup guards in the league. His main value is as a defensive ace. He’s an extremely solid defender with the size to guard either backcourt position. He’s not a great athlete, but he has decent quickness, and he works extremely hard on the defensive end. Offensively he’s a solid ball-handler and good, not great, shooter. Hinrich, along with Salmons and Rose, gives the Bulls one of the biggest and most versatile backcourts in the league, which gives them a lot of flexibility and ability to withstand foul trouble.

X-Factor: Luol Deng – Deng is the other player who projects to benefit from Gordon’s departure. When he wasn’t injured last year, his usage rate dropped significantly from 07-08, and he didn’t do real well with his role in the offense. However, he’s still a skilled, versatile player with the ability to play both forward spots. If Chicago wants to improve offensively, they’ll have to figure out how to better incorporate Deng, since he’s one of the most talented players on the roster. More importantly though, they need him on the defensive end, where he’s a lock-down wing defender due to his size and wingspan. In a conference where you have to deal with LeBron, Paul Pierce, and Rashard Lewis, having a big, versatile defender on the wing is a big deal, and the Bulls need Deng to bring that.

Overview

There is an awful lot to like about this Bulls team. They’re young, athletic, and they’ve got a potential superstar-in-the-making. On the plus side, they somewhat unexpectedly made the playoffs last year and gave the defending champion Celtics all they could handle. On the downside, they’re basically the exact same team they were at the end of last year, only swapping Ben Gordon for Jannero Pargo and a healthy Luol Deng. So, any improvement we’re going to see from this team is going to have to come from the young guys (namely Rose) taking their games to a new level. If that happens, they could contend for the 4th seed and make some noise in the playoffs. If it doesn’t happen, then they could miss out on the playoffs entirely. Either way, they’re setting themselves up to have a lot of cap space for next summer’s FreeAgentpalooza, so regardless of this year’s outcome, we could see a contending Bulls team sooner rather than later.

5th in the East – Solid, Not Great

BallerBlogger contributing writer ‘xphoenix87′ is a college student who dreams of one day writing about sports for a living. Since that’s not gonna happen, he’ll do this instead.