2009-10 NBA Season Preview: Chicago Bulls

Depth Chart:

C: Joakim Noah/Brad Miller/Aaron Gray/Jerome James

PF: Tyus Thomas/Taj Gibson

SF: Luol Deng/James Johnson

SG: John Salmons/Jannero Pargo

PG: Derrick Rose/Kirk Hinrich/Lindsey Hunter

Head Coach: Vinny Del Negro (2nd year)

2009-2010 Team Salary: $70.0 million

Projected 2010-2011 Team Salary: approximately $43.8 million

Off-Season Grade: Failed

Let me get this straight, you were so close to knocking off the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs and have one of the most exciting young players in the league, yet you did nothing this offseason to improve your roster?

You let Ben Gordon walk away without so much as making a real push to keep him. You used your two first-round picks on physical forwards who are not great shooters. Your big splash in free agency was bringing back Jannero Pargo. Sorry Bulls, you get a big fat F this offseason.

2009-2010 Outlook:

With Gordon gone, the Bulls will go as Rose goes. That is a lot of pressure for a second-year point guard who became legally able to buy an alcoholic beverage earlier this month, may or may not have taken his SATs, and is still a poor outside shooter. Yes, Rose is going to get better in his second season, but will it be enough to make up for the loss of Gordon?

Having a healthy Luol Deng back will be a plus and expect Kirk Hinrich to play a bigger role this season. Depth will be a concern especially on the wings and John Salmons must re-live his career year from last season for the Bulls to have any hope of getting past the first round of the playoffs.

Looking Ahead to the Summer of 2010:

The biggest positive of not re-signing Gordon was keeping next summer’s cap figure below the expected salary cap. Brad Miller, Jerome James and Tim Thomas (yes, he is still counting as a $6.4 million cap hit for the Bulls) are all off the books after this season, meaning Chicago will be about $10 million under the expected cap. Rumors continue to float around that they will make a run at hometown boy Dwyane Wade or another big-name free agent, but that is unlikely barring a trade to dump some more salary between now and July.

2009-10 NBA Power Ranking: 13th