The second the Bulls were knocked out of the playoffs all the talk was about them getting their hands on LeBron James. They have a decent small forward themselves and I think they might be a better team if they kept Deng and went after D-Wade instead. Deng played in 70 games (69 starts) for the Bulls last season and he averaged 37.9 minutes, 17.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He has now played in 403 games (357 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 34.2 minutes, 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. A lot of things that fans forget is that Deng is only 25 years old so he has a lot of basketball still in front of him.

25-year old center Joakim Noah took his game to a new level last season but I have a feeling that he won’t get much better. Still, he played in 64 games (54 starts) last season in which he averaged 30.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, 11.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Those numbers are very solid for a starting center in the NBA but his game is all in the paint as he doesn’t have much of a jump shot so I don’t see him putting up 15+ points per game any time soon. Noah has now played in 218 games (140 starts) in his three years with the Bulls in which he is averaging 24.8 minutes, 7.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game.

After winning the 2008-’09 Rookie of the Year Award, Derrick Rose had a lot of high expectations coming into his sophomore season.  Well, D. Rose met and exceeded most of those expectations and has proven to be one of the top (if not the top) point guards in the Eastern Conference.  Rose had a slow start to the season due to an ankle injury, where he shot 46% and averaged only 16.2 points, 5.3 assists, and 2.9 rebounds in the month of November.  Those are still very good numbers, but when you compare them to his final averages of 20.8 points, 6.0 assists, and 3.8 rebounds on 49% shooting you can see that he wasn’t 100% healthy early in the season.  Last season as a rookie he averaged 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 47% from the field.  He has become much more of a threat scoring the ball, thanks to his much improved outside shot.  The big knock on Rose coming into the NBA and throughout his rookie campaign was that he lacked a consistent outside shot.  He worked hard and it paid off, because he is deadly from 15-20 feet out and is starting to add the three-pointer to his arsenal.  What is even more impressive when you talk about Rose, is that he stepped his game up when it mattered most…the playoffs.  In the Bulls five-game series loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Rose averaged 26.8 points, 7.2 assists, and 3.4 rebounds.  Rose is only 21-years-old, so his game will continue to improve for the next couple of years.  With his youth, superior athleticism, and natural feel for the game, it looks like Rose will be an elite point guard in this league for years to come and could end up being the best point guard in the NBA in a few years.

The Chicago Bulls controlled their own destiny the past two games, and they didn’t have to worry about what the Toronto Raptors because they won when they absolutely had to with two big wins to close out the regular season.  Since the Raptors did win their season finale, the Bulls needed to beat the Charlotte Bobcats or they would be out of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  Once again it was the young star Derrick Rose leading the way for the Bulls.  Rose gave the Bulls 27 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block in their 98-89 road win over the Bobcats last night to finish out the 2009-’10 season and clinching the final seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  Rose has been leading the Bulls all season long, and he has been playing some of the best basketball of his young career heading into their matchup with LeBron James and the number one seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.  Although the Bulls are only the eight seed, the Bulls should be proud of making the playoffs with all of the injuries, coaching controversy, and new players that they have had to deal with.  The Bulls are a dangerous team again now that Rose has his full squad to play with, especially since Joakim Noah is healthy again.  Noah had a big game last night too, finishing with 21 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block.  Most people are expecting the Cavs to sweep the Bulls, but nobody expected the Bulls to take the Boston Celtics to seven games in last year’s exciting first round series.  Don’t be surprised if the Bulls steal a game or two against the Cavs.

The Chicago Bulls got a huge game from their backcourt on Tuesday night in a must-win game against the Boston Celtics.  Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich led the Bulls to a 101-93 win over the Celtics.  Rose had a career-high 39 points to go along with his 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  Hinrich, who has had a very poor season shooting the ball, went 11-20 (4-7 from three) for a season-high 30 points.  Hinrich also had 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal.  No other Bull was in double-figures, but they played good team defense and out-rebounded the Celtics 49-40.  Joakim Noah and Luol Deng did the bulk of that rebounding, with Noah grabbing 16 boards and Deng pulling down 12.  The Bulls still have one more game to take care of tonight in Charlotte against the Bobcats.  If the Bulls win, they are in the playoffs.  If they lose and the Toronto Raptors win, then they are out.  If the Raptors lose, they are in no matter what.  The Bulls shouldn’t worry about what the Raptors do and go out there and play like they did against the Celtics.  This was a great sign for the Chicago Bulls, and hopefully this will light a fire under Hinrich who had a very disappointing season.  If Hinrich can play more like he did last night, then the Bulls are in good shape tonight and they could make things interesting against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.