Chicago Bulls Starting Five: Who Will it Be?

The Bulls enter this season with essentially the same roster from last season's debacle. Well, there is one notable difference. With the first pick in the NBA draft, the Bulls selected point guard Derrick Rose. While the team tries to temper expectations of the young player, there is little doubt that this will soon be his team.

The Bulls starting lineup to open the season is anything but set. Training camp and the preseason were marred with injuries, with at least 11 players suffering some ailment. First year coach Vinny Del Negro will have a tough assignment doling out minutes on roster with at least 10 players fighting for playing time. When the Bulls opened camp one month ago, there was only starting position that was set with Luol Deng at the small forward. Let's look at the team position by position.

Point Guard - The battle for the point guard position is essentially a two man race. Well, that is to say, was a two man race. While the Bulls management preached patience with Derrick Rose, he came into camp and won this job. Kirk Hinrich will get minutes at this position, but this race was over very quickly. Derrick Rose is the future and the future begins now.

Shooting Guard - There are at least four players who would like to have a shot starting in the backcourt next to Rose. Kirk Hinrich was getting some early minutes in camp, but played poorly in this role. Larry Hughes was his usual bad self, while getting praised by the staff and media. He dislocated his shoulder, so he will not be playing for at least the first week of the season. Ben Gordon missed nearly all of camp with a injured big toe. Offensively, it would make the most sense to play the dynamic Gordon next Rose, but it has been reported that he will continue his 6th man role. Thabo Sefolosha was my early favorite to win the starting job, but he played poorly throughout most of the preseason, unable to knock down open shots. This position will be one of Del Negro's toughest tasks for the season. I expect Hinrich to be the opening night starter, but that will certainly change as the season ebbs and flows.

Small Forward - The Bulls signed Luol Deng to the richest contract in franchise history over the summer to be the starting small forward. While he has struggled to make an impact in the preseason, he is almost certainly a lock to start here on opening night. Andres Nocioni played very well alongside Rose and will get minutes both at small forward and power forward. Thabo Sefolosha will also get backup minutes here.

Power Forward - Tyrus Thomas entered camp with a renewed sense of purpose and professionalism. Tyrus was making good basketball decisions, shooting when open and rebounding everything he could get to...his best preseason to date. He hurt his ankle late in camp, and that may have cost him the job. Andres Nocioni can fill in off the bench in small lineups, but Del Negro will not start him. Drew Gooden was reasonably effective last season as the PF, but has played much of the preseason out of position at center. KC Johnson considers Gooden a lock to start, but its not clear if he will be the starting center or power forward.

Center - Drew Gooden started much of the preseason as an undersized center, due primarily to the injuries to Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray. Gooden is a decent offensive player, but gets punished on the defensive end of the floor. Joakim Noah looks like the same player as last season, getting ugly buckets and out-hustling his competition. Aaron Gray is the most fundamentally sound of our big men.. He has just enough moves in the post to score, while makes good decisions defensively and holds his position well. Gray is my dark horse selection as the starting center.

To recap, I expect the opening day line-up will look something like this...

PG-Derrick Rose
SG-Kirk Hinrich
SF-Luol Deng
PF-Drew Gooden
C-Aaron Gray

Bench
Tyrus Thomas
Andres Nocioni
Ben Gordon
Joakim Noah
Thabo Sefolosha

While it pains me to see Tyrus Thomas relegated to bench duty, I think this will be the direction the coaching staff goes for opening night. I do not think this will be the lineup for the entire season, as I expect Thomas and Noah to be starting by season's end. Coach Del Negro stressed this is a work in progress. Indeed.