Bulls Opener

We've been training here for the past two weeks so I haven't had as much time as I usually do. But I am excited for tomorrows Bulls season opener against the Nets. If you remember last year it was the Nets who beat the Bulls in the season finale. The loss forced them to drop a spot down in the playoffs. Instead of playing who the Cavs did (Wizards and Nets), the Bulls had to make its way against the Heat and the Pistons, a far greater task, before getting to the conference finals. The Bulls had trouble against the Nets last year and both teams are relatively the same. It was also last year that the Bulls started a game 18-0 (I think) against the Nets and ended up losing it. They also let an 18 point lead disappear against them in the second half of another game. So it should be an interesting opener.

Looking at the Bulls team there remain a few issues unresolved.

To get Kobe or not that is the question.
Would anyone not want Kobe? Of course, Kobe Bryant is the best all around player in today's game. The question is cost. How much is his contract going to cost and how much will it cost a franchise to get him. Now I don't know much about the financial side but with large contracts about to be rewarded to Deng and Gordon, it seems apparent that the Bulls will not be able to hold onto their core forever.

Additionally, the Bulls have one of the deepest benches in the league. The only problem is that you can only play five of them at a time. So I think its time for a trade. The main components would be Deng or Gordon (preferably Gordon), Thomas, and a future first round pick for Kobe. That would give them (with Gordon) a legitimate scorer, a future prospect which scouts are high on in Thomas and multiple 1st round picks in the future. If they were looking for a point guard Duhon could be added as well with something else added on the Lakers side as well. There also remains the possibility of a three or four way trade as well.

The starting line up for the Bulls would be Hinrich, Kobe, Deng, Joe Smith, Wallace. Not too bad. They would have Sefolosha, Nocioni, Noah, and Grey who looked good in preseason coming off the bench.

Also, remains the possiblity of bringing someone in like Juwan Howard who just left Minnesota.

The question remains that even if this team has regular season success due to its deep reserves, will the be able to compete with superstars in the playoffs or will we see another early exit.

Who's at forward?
Another question is who will be at power forward. Noah? Thomas? Smith? Odds say that it will begin with Thomas and then go to Smith as his knee heals. But as any Bulls fan knows Skiles likes to tinker with the lineup until it finally settles around midseason. Is it possible that we could see Nocioni in there or maybe Duhon for Gordon with Gordon coming off the bench again?

Get Healthy
The Bulls seem to be coming into the season with a few bumps and bruises, but nothing too serious. However, it seems like everyone has had an injury. Wallace (ankle), Noah (ankle), Thomas (foot), Gordon (ankle), Griffin (back), Deng (Wrist), Nocioni (calf). I don't know if its such a good sign going into the season hobbling a bit. I said that the Bulls have been pretty lucky the past few seasons with injuries we'll see if that continues this season.