By: CBF.. Your Game/TalkBulls Writer

Offseason to remember?

From the day Chicago got a verbal agreement from former Detroit Pistons Center Ben Wallace, to the Tyson Chandler trade, this Chicago team has taken a dramatic change from the end of last season to now. Let me show you the Bulls roster from the playoffs last year just to show you the change from last year to this year.

PG Hinrich/Duhon/Pargo
SG Gordon/Pargo/Hinrich
SF Noc/Deng/Songaila
PF Sweets/Songaila
C Malik Allen/ Chandler/Schenscher

That specific team is very unathletic with the exception to Kirk and Tyson and possibly Deng. John Paxson stated well before the draft that his goal was to get athletes and length through the draft. He got Tryus Thomas 6'9 220 and Thabo Sefolosha 6'6 208. They brought in a defensive oriented Shooting Guard in Sefolosha to take pressure off Kirk from gaurding the Shooting guards rather than his own position due to Ben Gordons terrible defense.

Thomas is a bit of a project who yet really doesnt have a true position wether it be at SF or PF, only time will tell. He brings Energy and toughness and he will give us a couple shot blocks a night. Dont look for him to get a lot of minutes in his rookie year due to some of the other moves Paxson has made wich Ill get to later. I would venture to say Thabo Sefolosha gets more minutes than Tyrus Thomas next season because we lack Defense in the backcourt with the exception to Kirk. We are more loaded at the SF and PF position.

Free Agency:

The Bulls were very quick to let everyone know Ben Wallace was their number 1 priority this offseason. He made a Verbal agreement late Tuesday night and quite possibly changed this franchise in an instant. With the addition to Ben Wallace, we get a much needed Intimidator who brings Interior Defense wich is something this team lacked because we were not very strong. The 4 time DPOY is geared up and ready to play for the Bulls this season and look for Wallace to get more looks offensively with the Bulls because we all know there arent that many coaches better than Scott Skiles setting up plays for an individual.

This is a perfect situation for Big Ben because this team prides itself on its defense wich is Ben's Specialty. Look for him to excel in rebounding and blocking shots for this team more than ever. Of course he is on the downcline but I think he will have better numbers this year than last year because of the different philosophies. I see no reason why Wallace cant get 9 ppg 12 rpg and 2-3 bpg for this team thoroughout the season. This is the Bulls first "Real" Allstar since the Jordon years.

"The Trade": We all figured with the addition to Ben Wallace, Tyson Chandler was the odd man out because his game is very similar to Bens yet less polished. Chandler was traded today to the Hornets for JR Smith and PJ Brown. The Wallace signing gave Paxson an excuse to dump Chandlers hefty salary. The Bulls unofficially are left with around 3.5 million dollars to spend in free agency.

PJ Brown: 6'11 PF/C who is on the last year of his contract but will fill the "AD" role for this team this season but is also 37 years old and we really cant expect too much of him this season.

Jr Smith: 6'6 SG this is the best asset the Bulls got out of this trade. JR smith, a highflyer and a hellsbells shooter. I compare him to a Bigger Ben Gordon. He didnt gel at all with the Hornets but hopefully he can get off to a new start with the Bulls. His question is his defense, he better come prepared or he will not last long with Scott Skiles and the Bulls. He definatley has the upside to be an Allstar Caliber player but so far has not lived up to his enormous potential. I can defenatley see him as a starter if he gets his act together.

If Jr Smith starts this season look for the lineup to look much different, in fact let me show you.

PG: Hinrich/Duhon/Gordon
SG: Smith/Gordon/Sefolosha
SF: Deng/Noc/Thomas/Khryapa
PF: PJ Brown/Sweetney/Thomas
C: Wallace/Schenscher/Sweetney

This team just got much more talented in a hurry. Fellas, we now have some Elite athletes that have alot of potential. IMO, JR Smith will be a Starting 2 guard for a while IF and its a big IF he can step up his defense. If he doesnt do that, he will not be in Chicago for long. This team is a definate Title contender and I expect big things from the Bulls this season. I cant wait

Added:
Tyrus Thomas
Viktor Khryapa
Thabo Sefolosha
Ben Wallace
PJ Brown
JR Smith

Subtracted:
Eric Piatkowski
Tyson Chandler
Jannero Pargo
1 Future 2nd round pick

This has been a spectacular offseason for the Bulls. I CANNOT wait until July 12th when everythign becomes official and then I can't wait for the Press Conference unveiling the new Chicago Bulls.

I just cant wait till the day when Big Ben brings out his Fro' to the windy City and the Bulls PA announcer says, "And the man in the middle from Virginia Union... BENNNNN WAALLLLACE!

You forgot Malik Allen, who as of right now is our back-up Center. At the very lest he is 100 times more valuable to us than broke off Luke Schenscher. Given Malik is much better at the 4, if you ask me who I would rather be inther playing between him and Luke, it's an easy Malik.

Geez, that depth chart is DEEP. Not enough playing time to go around for Smith, Sweetney, others. Thomas, Sweetney, Smith, Deng, Sefolosha all coming off the bench and competing with other guys that deserve/need playing time off the bench as well.

And thats why this team has the potential to win an NBA Championship. Three things as far as Im concerned win you the Title.

1. Atleast Average-Above Average scoring meaning score atleast 94 ppg The Bulls last year scored 97 ppg so, CHECK!

2. Defense, hold your opponents to limited scoring oppurtunities. CHECK

3. Depth, you can sub your second team guys for some 1st teamers every now and then and not loose to much of a step. CHECK

The Bulls tied for 13th in PPG last year, and they didn't get much stronger in that department, if at all. 94 PPG would be good for 23rd in the league.

They still don't have any real depth up front. They've got about 1 1/2 legit big men.

There are still a few things that they lack that most good teams have, like a go-to scorer and a scoring threat in the post. You usually need both to win a title. Both of those are generally more important than having a high powered offense and depth.

Who ever said pargo was gone?

You're right.

That is why Paxon isn't done. He added all these pieces. Expect Jermaine O'neal or KG to follow.

They have a go to scorer, Ben Gordon and ppg doesnt matter as long as you can get alteast 94 ppg but have great defense.

I believe Detroit didnt more than 94 ppg when they won there Championship and There so called "Better offense" Last season only added up to 96 ppg wich is about average.

Gordon is not a go-to scorer right now. He's far too streaky and doesn't get to the line enough. He's got to average at least 18 a game to be considered a legitimate 1st option, and realistically it should be higher. You can't afford to have your #1 scorer having 3-14 games and finishing in single digits as often as he did this year if you're trying to win it all.

Detroit averaged 1 point per game less than us last year, and that's with the offensive black hole known as Ben Wallace in the lineup and less depth. Billups and Hamilton are both better and more consistent scorers than we have.

Detroit did only average 90 a game when they won it all, but that was on a team run by Larry Brown that moved at a snail-like pace offensively. That helps limits your points allowed. They only allowed 83.4 points a game, a total that we're not going to touch. They only scored 96 this year, but allowed 90. I have a hard time even seeing us drop 7 a game off our average to get to that total. If you were referring to the Bad Boys, they averaged a lot more than that.

We have a better defense than Detroit did last year IMO

All indications are that he is gone, but your right nothing is official and if Duhon is dealt they could very well resign him (although considering some of the undrafted guys we brought in, such as Miles from Kansas, the odds of keeping Pargo are about 1%.

Way too early to make a statement like that. Let the Bulls go out and play first.

NO, THEY ALREADY ARE

I don't think so. Wallace is the same, and Hinrich might be better than Billups, but the other spots aren't even close.

Deng could turn into Pricne, but he isn't there yet and obviously we don't have a 2 that can guard much, not that Hamilton is that great.

I could actually see us now being the better defensive team, and I think you can make a case for Brown being better defensively than Rasheed.

Its close, but bench and actually proving it is another thing and I'm excited to see how the Bulls play (and how exactly we'll look) next year.

Right now it's highly possible since we stole Wallace. That's basically a double whammy since we get stronger AND they get weaker. That remains to be seen though.

Overall, we are the better defense. Like Jas said Deng could be the next prince but right now our 2 position cant defend and questionable at 3. But off the bench, it doesnt get any better than Tyrus, Noc, and Sefolosha as far as defensive depth. I think we have better defensive depth than Detroit does IMHO.

It should be noted that we were one of the best defenses in the league last year and that really says something considering that we started the year playing pretty poor defense.

The Bulls may very well be the best defense in the NBA (this year) and should be right there with the Spurs and maybe the Pistons in that area.

The key to both of those offenses for Detroit was not PPG, but was in fact offensive officiency. They took almost the entire 24 second clock every time, thus shortening the game overall, unlike a team like Phoenix for example, who races whenever they can. But what Detroit did do well with those teams was make sure they were scoring when they were down the court. They got good shots, and last year, were either near or at the top of the league in points per 100 posessions.