Re: Wilbon on the good and bad with the new look Bulls The only question that matters after settling for Plan B in free agency is this: Have the*Chicago Bulls*upgraded enough to become a serious championship contender? Instead of*Carmelo Anthony, the Bulls wind up with*Pau Gasol,Nikola Mirotic*and*Kirk Hinrich. Is that enough added juice for the team that had the worst offense among all the playoff teams? We've known the Thibs-era Bulls can defend, rebound, grind, work and play unselfishly, and with great discipline. And what that got them in May was bounced out of the postseason in the very first round by the neophyte*Washington Wizards. So the overriding goal of the draft and free agency was to add scoring. OK, deepening the roster was something the Bulls wanted to do, too, especially with a coach who goes to the whip hand the way Tom Thibodeau does. But more than anything else, the draft and free agency had to yield scoring and shooting -- plenty of both, actually.
I think we're legitimate contenders to make it to the Finals given the state of the east. However, the team will have to play above expectations to get even odds against the Spurs/Thunder/Clippers in the finals.
Re: Wilbon on the good and bad with the new look Bulls If you listen to the national "experts", the Bulls are favorites to win the East this year. The Vegas books I could find on the first page of Google search have us 2nd to Cleveland. Cleveland Cavaliers 7/2 San Antonio Spurs 9/2 Chicago Bulls 13/2 Oklahoma City Thunder 13/2 Cleveland Cavaliers 4/1 San Antonio Spurs 9/2 Oklahoma City Thunder 6/1 Chicago Bulls 10/1 Los Angeles Clippers 10/1 Houston Rockets 16/1 Cleveland Cavaliers 4/1 (33/1 before Lebron) San Antonio Spurs 5/1 Oklahoma City Thunder 6/1 Chicago Bulls 7/1 Houston Rockets 8/1 Los Angeles Clippers 10/1 Cleveland Cavaliers 4/1 San Antonio Spurs 5/1 Oklahoma City Thunder 6/1 Chicago Bulls 8/1 I would say that we are most certainly serious championship contenders, and Vegas and national NBA analysts all agree.
Yes on paper we are. We have enough depth in the front court to absorb any injuries that may happen with gasol and Noah. Our weakness last season was scoring. Wow did we every add scoring!! And watching Snell in the summer league, we may have even more scoring or at least another scoring threat from him. Rose needs to play all season. That is the key towards a possible championship. Even without Rose we could very well come out of the East anyway.
