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If you aren’t thinking about where your season went wrong, you’re behind the 8 ball.  That 8 ball will read negative predictions if it’s a magic one.  Speaking of teams who’s season went wrong, I’ll recap the non-playoff teams.  Since nobody really wants a Pistons article for next year, I’ll start with the teams that narrowly missed the playoffs.  The Bulls fit both of these, a team with a season that went wrong and missed the playoffs.  They’re also my favorite squad because I’m stuck in the 90s.  I still listen to Pearl Jam and Mistadobalina.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Growing up in the 90’s (don’t date me bro!), it would have been hard to imagine not just the mediocrity that would follow the next two decades (okay, I’ll add the qualifier “measured” mediocrity for all those Noah/Rose fanboys out there), but also feeling some sort of compassion for hanging out near the bottom-half of the league for longer than it takes to legally drink.  Truth be told, it’s not like the Bulls have been, say, the Kings over the same span. (I’d feel sorry for making fun of the Kings if they had more than a dozen fans.) But there’s definitely been a markable difference between the Michael Jordan Bulls and everything that came afterwards. I also go by the name: Captain Obvious. And while it’s been a long wait for those in Chitown, there’s a lot to like with this team, especially building off a successful season that led to the first round of the playoffs, fruits of their previous active off-seasons. Sure, it’s not the chips we middle-aged men were used to seeing from this team a long time ago, but as someone great once said, time is flat circle… (Don’t worry, I prefer the McConaughey quote over Nietzsche too. Actually, after typing that sentence out, I prefer neither since it took me a few hours for spellcheck to agree.)

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Fun fact: There are only three players returning from last season for the Chicago Bulls. That would be Zach LaVine, Coby White, and Patrick Williams. The entire rest of the roster has been turned over and the Windy City faithful are prepping Grant Park as we speak. There are a lot of varying opinions about where the Bulls will end up in the standings, a lot of them that have me like:

Me: “Hey Son, can we play ‘Bulls on Parade’ on repeat on my Chicago Bulls preview?”

Son: “No…. No, I don’t think so.”

Sorry guys.

Regardless of where they wind up in the standings, it won’t really affect their fantasy stock all that much. The Bulls are all in on this lineup in their attempt to earn the city a legitimate playoff berth for the first time in the last six seasons. That means the big dogs are here to play and they should get significant minutes throughout the season.

The Bulls put a competitive group on the floor around all-star Zach LaVine and didn’t even mortgage the future, so it’s safe to say that Arturas Karnisovas has a place at my table any time. Still, there are questions about their defense and their “fit” since they won’t be playing a traditional power forward (as if that were necessary in the modern NBA).

With so many mouths to feed on offense, will that hurt the value of guys like perennial all-star Nikola Vucevic? Will DeMar DeRozan still have a prominent role? Let’s break it down by position.

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The Chicago Bulls had a disappointing season by anyone’s measure as they had a promising group of talent on paper and couldn’t quite translate that to success on the court. The Bulls front office took the heat and a massive shake up ensued. For the first time in almost a decade,  Bulls fans have some hope for a franchise that has been reeling since Derrick Rose suffered a catastrophic knee injury in the closing minutes of a first round 2012 playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Please, blog, may I have some more?