Since the arrival of Tom Thibodeau, Chicago's defense has been stellar. The Bulls have made a commitment to defense and I think it's safe to say they will finish in the top 5 on the defensive side of the ball in the 2014-15 season.
I however think our offense will struggle at the start of the season. I'm not Coach T, but I imagine both Gasol and Noah will play a significant amount of minutes with each other. Individually Gasol and Noah are both great, but the "twin tower" combination hasn't really worked since the Tim Duncan/David Robinson days. It will help greatly that both Gasol and Noah have excellent court awareness and passing skills.
The loss of Luol Deng to me really hurts the Bulls on both the offensive side and defensive side of the ball. Deng was a great player (I believe one of the most underrated in the league) and always played hard. Luol seemed to take pride a lot last season in picking up the opposing teams' main scoring option. He will surely be missed and I wish Deng all the luck in the world. Now, can Jimmy Butler replace him? In short, I think he definitely can. Butler has great upside and has shown flashes of NBA stardom at still such a young age. Keep an eye on Butler, he could be the x-factor that determines how far the Bulls go this season.
The real story though once again is whether or not Derrick Rose can stay healthy. The former NBA MVP has been pretty inconsistent thus far with Team USA in Barcelona, but there has been a play here and there that reminds one of the D-Rose of old. There is still time for Rose to come back into his own and I feel it's only a matter of time. No one will question the ability that Rose possesses, but I don't believe he is 100% confident with his knee yet. I pray that I am wrong!
There is still a good while before the Bulls tip-off the regular season vs. the Knicks on October 29th, and I'm excited to see what changes between now and then! (Possible Ray Allen signing?)
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