The Chicago Bulls have a championship on the brain and do not plan on settling for anything less. Their past two seasons can be chalked up as a disappointment after early exits from the postseason. Despite failing to sign either LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony in free agency, the Bulls do not plan on letting this season take the same route. With a healthy roster to their name, could lingering injuries be Chicago's downfall?
According to the Chicago Sun Times, Joakim Noah has a knee injury that could hamper him for a good portion of the season. Joe Cowley reports that Noah's knee is a cause for concern as Chicago believes it might plague the center for the entire season which could hurt his time on the court. Cowley writes that while Noah has played through pain before, this issue is something different. The center had exploratory surgery in May which was called minor at the time, but many believe things are worse than being reported and get bad before it gets better.
This is where the deep size of the Bulls could come in handy. The Bulls drafted Doug McDermott. They signed Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic and they have an improved Taj Gibson to work with. Gasol has already been complaining about the current rotation of big men claiming that he did not sign on to sit on the bench more than play and an injury to anyone in the rotation would certainly help solve that.
"I like to be on the floor when the game is on the line," Gasol said, via CBSSports.com. "That's what I've been getting paid for my entire career. You always like to be in the last minutes of the game when the game's on the line. It's good to be put in that position. It makes you feel like your coach trusts you to do the best thing out there on both ends of the floor. So it's a good thing to be on the floor in those minutes, but you also have to understand there might be nights when it's not going your way and there's another guy who's playing extremely well."
The Bulls are very optimistic about the upcoming season as Derrick Rose is healthy and charging the court, but Noah's knee could prove to be a burden. Make no mistake, he will be on court more times than not, but it is an issue to monitor moving forward.
