I think the Bulls have a realistic shot at winning the Eastern Conference but there are certain pivot points that'll have to fall our way. Of course DRose being healthy and effective is #1 by such an obvious amount that I'm not going to list it here. But beyond that these seem to be the key issues that'll make or break our season: 1). Can Pau be a shot creator? 2). Can McBuckets be an impact player his rookie year? 3). Can one of either Snell or Mirotic be more than minute-eaters in the rotation? 4). Will we get 12-13 Jimmy or 13-14 Jimmy? I am a pessimist on the first option, and an optimist on the last three. My impressions after watching Pau in the world championships is that he'll have many of the same defensive problems Boozer had while he was here. He's been Spain's third best big man. I'm confident he'll be able to get a decent amount of points through flow, but I don't see him getting to the rim easily. His height makes him more difficult to marginalize than Boozer, but I'm going to predict the two of them having similar problems, although Gasol's won't be as severe since being 7'1 really does make life a lot easier if you're in the NBA. I'm bullish on McDermott. He's a rookie which generally isn't a reason for optimism, but it seems like the whole Bulls org had him pegged as "their guy" and what we need him to do well is exactly what he's best at. I think his defense and dribble-drive game will need some time to adjust, but I think his off-ball movement and shooting will translate right away, which is where he'll have the biggest impact. Options #3 and #4 are more murky. I'd like to think Snell or Mirotic can be meaningful rotation players this year, but Snell was bad last year and Mirotic has three really good players ahead of him. I might be higher on Mirotic if I'd seen him in person more. Butler I think is in a good position to have a bounce back year. Less offensive pressure and a contract year are a pretty good mix for him upping his ante.
Good post. Gasol can create his own shot, but if in the process of doing this, a teammate comes open for a better shot, Gasol will likely screw things up and take the assist. When he plays with Noah, we'll be watching two of the best-passing bigs in the game. I'll be extremely interested in seeing how many minutes Gasol logs. I don't think he'll average anywhere near 30 during the regular season. I share your bullishness on McDermott. The more I think about it, the more important McDermott becomes. There's a sizable gap between how good the Bulls need McDermott to be and what is reasonable to expect him to be. Mirotic should be more than a minutes eater. I expect Thibodeau to run some sets for Mirotic and for him to be a key scoring option on the second team. I expect Snell to be more confident than he was last season and for him to be a solid contributor. As for Butler, I can't say I have much of an opinion. Since he's well known for being a very hard worker, I expected him to improve his shooting accuracy from 2012-13, not fall off the table. I have a wait-and-see attitude this season.
