The Chicago Bulls have high expectations coming back this season, but if Derrick Rose is injured again, the team may have to consider free agent Jordan Crawford or some trade options and names like Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott, Nikola Mirotic, Jimmy Butler or Tony Snell could come up again after being mentioned in the Kevin Love trade rumors, although this would be a drastic development and depends solely on what happens with Rose as he makes his return from missing nearly two full years with injuries.
Rose is playing with Team USA in the FIBA World Cup and while he has looked good at times, he has also been a bit limited while coming back from his knee issues. According to ESPN.com, Kyrie Irving has taken over as the main point guard to help give Rose some support and while he expects to stay healthy this season, the same thing was said last year when he came back as well. Marc Stein writes that the team realizes it has a window with Noah, Rose, Gibson and Pau Gasol and that it could be closed in the near future and that is why this season has some urgency.
The Bulls aren't planning on blowing everything up and that's not what we are saying, but the team may have no other choice but to consider a deal if Rose goes down for a significant amount of time. The team signed Aaron Brooks in the offseason and while he is a solid backup for Rose and an upgrade over DJ Augustin, he is not even close to the player Rose is. The Bulls are coming into the season as the top defensive team from last year, but they ranked last in scoring with Rose out and that is why they went so hard at Carmelo this offseason.
The team signed Pau Gasol and he should be a great addition to the team, as he is a massive upgrade over Carlos Boozer. Last season Boozer actually was fairly productive, but at his price tag he was not worth keeping and he turned into a three quarter player and that put some strain on Gibson. Having Gasol will make the rotation work better and now Noah and Gibson have some major support up front and he is also an upgrade over Boozer on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
Brooks was signed in the offseason as a backup for Rose and he will be a solid addition over Augustin, as he averaged nearly 10 points per game in a reserve role last year with the Rockets and Nuggets. The Bulls have the toughest division in the east to deal with and the team needs Rose to stay healthy all season, as they now have to deal with LeBron James and the Cavs, who also added Kevin Love. The Pacers still should be good even with Paul George out and that adds to the urgency for the Bulls.
The Bulls likely will not consider making big moves unless something drastic happens and it may depend on whether or not Rose can stay healthy for the first time in two seasons.
