The Bulls appear similar to the Mavericks when they broke through a few years ago. They did it with defense and depth and waves of interchangeable players, including Dirk Nowitzki, the reigning MVP despite a first-round playoff flop. The Bulls will have a similar game plan, though I'm interested in the power forward position, where they exchanged P.J. Brown for Joe Smith.

Brown is a better post defender. Smith, one of the true gentlemen in the league, will score more and has a good shot. But he has had physical problems in recent years as he ages, and it's possible he'll be an early starter and not a finisher. One would assume Tyrus Thomas would emerge, though I'm looking for rookie Joakim Noah in that spot, even though he might make Tyson Chandler's jump shot look good.

Though he's a rookie, Noah is older than Thomas and has played in more big games, having won two NCAA titles at Florida. He has had problems with his shoulder, but he's a relentless competitor and has been a willing learner thus far, unlike Thomas.

Noah fits the Bulls' profile of a hard worker who will practice more than he's asked to. Thomas remains the exception. Not surprisingly, he disappointed the Bulls this summer by not working out here.

But I still wouldn't quarrel with picking him. At some point, you have to take a chance on talent, potentially great talent. It often comes with risks, but if it hits it can make a difference for a franchise.

Thomas has the kind of athletic talent no one else on the Bulls has. He can do things none of the others even dream about. But players with that kind of talent often take shortcuts, and Thomas does.

Players such as Deng, Gordon and Hinrich have to work for everything to be where they are, and they do. Players like Thomas can get there without working hard or even paying much attention. Often he doesn't. But you gasp at some of the things he does.

Noah can't afford to take a minute off, so he doesn't. Yes, you might wince watching him and Ben Wallace playing inside. Combined, they might not shoot 50 percent on free throws or score against one another playing one-on-one for an hour. But several coaches have told me they see Noah's hustle and relentless play annoying the heck out of players like Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal and Randolph, who don't like a 6-11 gnat buzzing around them all game and running out on offense at every opportunity.

If Thomas played like Noah, it would be game over. No comparison. But he doesn't, and no one knows when or if he can. Though Noah's not an offensive post threat (who is on the Bulls?), he'll score on opportunity plays. You don't need to beat them with your starters alone.

If Noah had skipped his last season at Florida, the Bulls would have taken him No. 2 in the 2006 draft. Instead they got Thomas. It was a reasonable gamble, and now they have Noah as well. I look for Noah to make an impact with this team as a rookie. And perhaps help motivate Thomas to use more than his gifts.

I don't like hearing about players skipping workouts. Tyrus better be careful, or he is going to be get buried on the bench.

But it was a more mundane effort -- Thomas actually knocking down a couple of 15-foot jump shots -- that had defenders shaking their heads in Monday's Pepsi Pro Summer League in Orlando.

Thomas' improved outside shot hasn't come by accident. He said he's worked seven days a week so far this offseason, often staying in the gym until he makes 700 jump shots a day.

"I just want to use this week to get a lot better and put to use all the work that I've been putting in," said Thomas, the fourth overall pick of the 2006 NBA draft. "Everything that I've been working on, from my midrange game to my back-to-the-basket game, I'm trying to make them better this summer."

Indiana defeated Chicago 93-89 in the summer league opener Monday, but Thomas was clearly the best player on the floor. He made 6-of-13 shots and got to the free-throw line 10 times for 17 points overall. He also added seven rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals in one of the most complete performances of the day.

And Thomas did it even though he had to retreat to the training room in the third period after getting banged on the hip during -- what else? -- a dazzling blocked shot.

Somewhat undersized as a 6-foot-9, 215-pound power forward, Thomas knows that if he's going to become more of a scoring threat for the Bulls, he has to be able to hit the midrange shot. A threat to drive to the hoop at any time, Thomas made foes pay Monday when they backed off him and basically dared him to shoot. Knowing when to take that shot comes easier now that he's been in the league a year and played 72 games as a rookie, Thomas said. But that certainly wasn't the case this time last year.

"It was more just getting the feel of the game and knowing how to take my game to another level," said Thomas, referring to the transition to the NBA. "I know I still have a lot of stuff to work on, and I'm just keep trying to keep getting better."

You took "skipping workouts" out of that? I've actually been surprised at the way the press tone on TT has turned in the past week or so, because it seems like the opposite of what we were hearing earlier in the summer. It sure sounded like he was working his tail off.

According to the tribune Skiles might be hinting at a deng-wallace-gray front court