The Chicago Bulls are coming into the season after flirting with a Taj Gibson trade this summer and if Derrick Rose gets hurt this year, the team may look at trades again and this comes as Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol and Rose all think the team has the chance to win a title over the Cavaliers in the east, even with the team getting LeBron James this offseason.
The Bulls come into the year after signing Gasol and Aaron Brooks as free agents and they also added Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic to an already stacked lineup. Rose is coming back healthy for the first time in two seasons and that likely will dictate how the year plays out for the Bulls. The past two seasons they have fought hard even with Rose out and while they made the playoffs, they have not been able to make the deep run that they envisioned a couple years ago.
Now that Rose is healthy the team feels it has a chance to win a title and both Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol have said this preseason that they think the team is just as good as the Cavaliers. The Cavs of course have LeBron James and Kevin Love along with Kyrie Irving and they are now the biggest threat in the eastern conference. Adding Gasol could end up as one of the best moves of the offseason past the Cavaliers getting LeBron James, as he brings experience and offensive skills to the lineup.
Gasol is a major upgrade over Carlos Boozer, who was making way too much money for how he was producing last year. Gasol was a major target for the Bulls and now Boozer and Gasol have switched places, with Boozer ending up in LA. Boozer is a bargain now based on the deal he got and Gasol brings an upgrade on both ends of the floor, as he is one of the best rebounders in the league and he also has an offensive game to go with it.
The Bulls considered trading Gibson this offseason in the Kevin Love deal, but obviously that did not end up going down. Gibson has said that he has no problem playing off the bench after reports came out that he could be upset if that happened and now the Bulls have to see where the rotation takes them. If Derrick Rose gets injured again, they may consider a deal to try and salvage this season with Noah, Gasol and McDermott taking over for him.
Noah is one of the best defensive players in the league and while his offensive game is not at the level of a Kevin Love, he is a foundational player for the team and should make a huge impact this season. The Bulls also added Aaron Brooks to the roster and he adds some nice depth and is also an insurance policy in case Rose goes down. Brooks is an upgrade over DJ Augustin from last season. McDermott could end up being very valuable as well, as he is fighting to make it into the starting lineup and it looks like he has a chance to do it.