For two years running, the Chicago Bulls have posted the best regular season record in the NBA, but thanks to an ill-timed ACL tear to Derrick Rose in the first game of the 2012 playoffs, it’s probably safe to say that this year won’t be quite the glowing success that the last two seasons have been. Despite all that, nobody really knows how early Rose will find his way back to the team, or how well the rest of the group will play in his absence. All we can say for certain is that this isn’t going to be an easy seven or eight months for this organization.

HOOPSWORLD takes a look at the 2012-13 Chicago Bulls:

Five Guys Think…

This team is built around Derrick Rose, we saw just how much in the first round of last year’s playoffs, where they were unable to beat the Philadelphia 76ers after he went down. This season is going to be all about staying afloat till he comes back. Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah will all have to step up in his absence. The Bulls reserves are mostly new faces who will have to quickly get up to speed as well. This team shouldn’t be written off because Rose should be back sometime this year and until he returns Coach Thibodeau will make sure this team plays hard and competes every night.

2nd Place – Central Division

– Yannis Koutroupis
 

Strangely, it seems many NBA pundits are ready to write off the Chicago Bulls. Yes, they will play a significant chunk of this season without Derrick Rose, but they have also added solid depth at the point guard position and upgraded their second unit in preparation for a season with Rose playing spectator early on. The Indiana Pacers have taken huge steps forward over the last few seasons and are likely to win the division, but the Bulls won’t be far behind. Once Rose returns, all bets are off.

2nd Place – Central Division

– Bill Ingram
 

Even with Derrick Rose expected to miss a large portion of the season, the Chicago Bulls should still be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. They still have plenty of talent on their roster and Rose should be back come playoff time, which means Chicago may be able to make some noise in the postseason. It was an interesting summer for the Bulls. The team decided to part ways with Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson, Kyle Korver and Omer Asik, replacing them with free agents Marco Belinelli, Kirk Hinrich, Nate Robinson, Nazr Mohammed and Vladimir Radmanovic. Whether the changes will pay off remains to be seen, but Chicago remains a contender, even though they’ll enter the season at less than 100 percent.

2nd Place – Central Division

– Alex Kennedy
 

This would be an easier thing to figure if we had a stable timetable for Derrick Rose’s return from his torn ACL last spring, but we don’t. Rehab for that particularly injury is supposed to take a year, so it’s possible he misses the entire season. Optimistically, since Rose is obviously more than just a mere mortal, he could return in February or March. There’s a direct correlation between how good the Bulls are and when Rose gets back (and, for that matter, how explosive he is upon that return), however we should expect the meantime to be pretty ugly. Yes, Tom Thibodeau is an excellent coach that got 110 percent out of a group that played well without Rose for stretches last season, but this year’s bench is nowhere near as strong or cohesive as last year’s “Bench Mob,” and that spells trouble. Joakim Noah and Luol Deng have to stay healthy and be great for the Bulls to remain in the playoff picture, and both players have struggled in both categories over the course of their careers. They’ll grind out some wins, but it won’t be a pretty show this season until D-Rose makes his (hopefully) triumphant return.

3rd Place – Central Division

– Joel Brigham
 

Former league MVP guard Derrick Rose is expected to miss the majority of the 2013 season while rehabbing a torn ACL suffered in the first round of the playoffs last season. Rose’s expected absence this season has more than a few of Chicago’s most loyal fans thinking about amnestying forward Carlos Boozer or trading promising center Joakim Noah to stockpile assets or create salary cap relief for the future. But the Bulls’ front office has stood firm from day one in their belief that the current roster, even without Rose, can make a run at the postseason. And you know what? They’re right. The Bulls won’t come close to matching their dominance of the past two seasons, but there is enough talent here to earn another playoff appearance.

2nd Place – Central Division

– Lang Greene

Top Of The List

Top Offensive Player: Eventually, it will be Derrick Rose for all the obvious reasons, but while he’s out look to Luol Deng to pick up some of the offensive slack. An All-Star for the first time last season, Deng was Chicago’s second-leading scorer with 15.5 ppg, and there’s a strong chance that he’ll see those numbers go up while Rose completes his rehab. He has actually averaged over 17 ppg in four of the last five seasons and should have no trouble doing so again this year as the captain and leader of a team that’s desperately going to need him.

Top Defensive Player: Assuming he stays healthy, Joakim Noah is the defensive asset the Bulls have, and he’ll have to be healthier and more aggressive than ever this season now that defensive specialist Omer Asik is no longer with the team. Noah finished in the top 20 in blocks per game with almost 1.5 per contest last season, but he’s also a good rotation defender and is really hungry on that end of the floor. Plus, you can’t measure the guy’s intensity and swagger, which has quietly gone a long way towards keeping the Bulls motivated in some of those tight, seemingly meaningless regular season games. They’re all life or death for Noah. At least, he sure plays like they are, and that’s the kind of defensive anchor championship-caliber teams really need.

Top Playmaker: Again, we’re going to hand this one to Rose in February or March or April (whenever he gets back), but in the meantime we have to assume that Kirk Hinrich will be the one doing most of the work in regards to setting up teammates on the offensive end. He’s slower than he was the last time he played for this team two seasons ago, but he’s a savvy enough veteran point guard to know what it takes to create plays. He’ll certainly have the opportunity in Chicago, at least as long as Rose is out.

Top Clutch Player: It’s Rose again, except unlike some of these other categories in which Rose’s teammates could hold it down in his absence, this team really doesn’t have a guy that’s well-known for knocking down the big shot. There probably won’t be any one guy who unequivocally takes ownership of the last shot, but it’s not hard to imagine Deng, Hinrich, Richard Hamilton, or even Carlos Boozer being a guy who takes a stab at a game-winner. At the end of the day, though, this is D-Rose’s forte, and assuming he makes it back healthy this season, he’ll be the one attempting clutch shots in the postseason, should the Bulls find themselves there.

The Unheralded Player: The Bulls got a lot of flak for the way they tackled free agency this past offseason, letting a whole second rotation’s worth of unheralded players walk in lieu of cheaper patchwork veterans like Nazr Mohammad and Vlad Radmanovic, but backup shooting guard Marco Belinelli is actually a lot better than people think. He averaged a respectable (and career-high) 11.8 ppg as a member of the New Orleans Hornets last season, and he’s nearly a 40 percent career shooter from three. Some eye-rolling at the results of this Bulls offseason is warranted, but Belinelli probably doesn’t deserve as much of the scorn as some the other new acquisitions.

The Best New Addition: And speaking of which, there really isn’t anybody else to give this to other than Kirk Hinrich, who spent the last two seasons split between Washington and Atlanta. Two years is a lot of time for a player with his mileage and injury history, however, Bulls fans are probably going to be surprised how much he’s slowed down in so short a time. Still, it’s nice to have a point guard that understands the organization so well, and there weren’t a whole lot of other affordable point guard options for the Bulls in free agency. He’s still solid defensively, and he should be a great locker room leader. Plus, no matter how much his skills may have deteriorated, the fans love the guy. In a season that’s going to start off under such a somber shadow, a little bit of optimism isn’t a bad thing, and no other free agent could’ve possibly brought more of that to this team than the Captain.

– Joel Brigham

Who We Like

1. Tom Thibodeau: He’s likely to get all the credit for any success the Bulls may have in Rose’s absence, but he also isn’t likely to be blamed for a bad season because few teams lose a current or former MVP and just keep it all up. This guy is one seriously intense coach, and winning regular season games matters more to him than probably anybody else in the league. He’ll make his guys kill it on the defensive end of the floor and hope that his team’s offense is enough to stave off opponents from night to night. With a coach like this, it’s hard to imagine the Bulls showing up as complete failures this season. All of which begs the questions, why hasn’t this guy been given a contract extension yet?

2. Taj Gibson: Had the Bulls matched the offer on Asik—which they reportedly considered very, very seriously—there would have been no chance for them to keep Gibson, as well. Fans are going to be much happier long-term that he was the choice rather than Asik, and it won’t be a huge surprise if sometime in the not-too-distant future Boozer is amnestied to make room for Gibson as a starter. He works hard, shows great talent on both ends of the floor (the defensive end, in particular), and he’s about as likeable a guy as the Bulls have in their locker room. Unless his salary negotiations go to a silly place, he’ll hopefully be in Chicago long term. On the other side of that, though, if his negotiations go to a silly place, it’s probably because he had a great season.

3. Joakim Noah: He’s loved in Chicago, but he’s hated everywhere else, and with good reason. Few guys get under opponents’ skin like Joakim Noah, and he does it with a combination of smothering defense, bony elbows, floppy hair, and about 50 percent more energy than anybody else on the floor. Assuming his ankle is back to full strength (and he says it is), he should be ready to continue right on annoying the rest of the league.

4. Luol Deng: After all that criticism Deng got for playing in the Olympics with a bum wrist, it looks like surgery won’t be necessary after all. That’s a good thing for the Bulls, who couldn’t have afforded to play many early season games without another one of their stars. Luol never has been a flashy player, but last year was the first in a while that no fans complained about his contract. That contract is winding down, by the way, so there’s a good chance Deng takes advantage of his opportunity to prove he’s worth another one when the current deal expires in 2014. If ever he’d have a chance to prove he’s any kind of franchise cornerstone, now would be the time.

5. Derrick Rose: Take ten minutes to go watch those “The Return” videos on YouTube and you’ll understand why. This is a great kid working his tail off to come back stronger than ever. The basketball gods are cruel if they rob us of such a talented kid who also happens to be such a decent guy. There’s nothing Bulls fans want more than a playoff picture that features D-Rose right in the middle of it.

– Joel Brigham

Strengths

The Bulls were good at a lot last year, but under head coach Tom Thibodeau their calling card has been and should continue to be defense. In 2011-12, the Bulls were first in the league in opponents’ points per game and second in opponents’ field goal percentage. They were third in blocks and first in team rebounds, so yes, defense has not been a problem for this group. Even without specialists like Ronnie Brewer and Omer Asik, this remains a solid core defensively.

Chicago also finished fifth in assists and turnovers, so they’re sharing the ball well on offensive without turning it over all that much.

– Joel Brigham

Weaknesses

Expect depth to be an issue for the Bulls this year, where last year that was one of their biggest strengths. The Bench Mob is no longer, and in the place of Brewer, Asik, Kyle Korver, and C.J. Watson, Chicago will now trot out Belinelli, Mohammad, Radmanovic, and Nate Robinson. That’s a significant downgrade, even with Taj Gibson still in the fold.

They also have not been a particularly good free-throw shooting team. In fact, last season they finished 27th in the league in that category, shooting only 72.2 percent from the charity stripe. Also, despite their defensive prowess, they were only 24th in the league in team steals. That, however, is something they can live with if they are able to keep opponents’ scoring as scant as it has been the last couple of years.

– Joel Brigham

What Needs To Be Said On Opening Day….

Shhh… can you hear that? Listen… does anyone hear anything? Nothing? You guys are right, that is the sound of silence. That is how much people are talking about us as a contender. And to be honest, it should make you just a little angry. We are a damn good thing, even if Derrick is still out with injury. We are one of the best defensive teams in the league. We have pieces that can score and enough versatility to do damage. Kirk is a different player than Derrick, but we can be successful with him in action. Luol, Carlos, Joakim, we’re going to need you guys to be at your absolute best all season. It is a long year, but our goal is to stay in contention. We want to be a thorn in every team’s side throughout, and then get to the postseason in a position to make someone’s life miserable. We won’t depend on Derrick’s return, but if that happens, all the better for us. Let’s show everyone why they shouldn’t be silent about the Chicago Bulls.

- Anthony Macri and Brett Koremenos

The Burning Question

When will Derrick Rose come back, and will it be too late for the Bulls when he finally does?

The short answer is that nobody really has any sense about when Rose will get back on the court, but fans chanting for a December or January return should temper their expectations. While Rose is reportedly ahead of schedule in his rehab, the Bulls would have to be in decent playoff position by early March in order to justify rushing him back into the lineup. If they look to be headed nowhere fast, however, Rose would be wiser to take his time. One way or another, though, this entire season is going to be one non-stop anxious wait for Derrick to make his triumphant return.

– Joel Brigham