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 | | Posted on: 11/6/2008 |
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| Written by Dan Rossi |
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Posted on 10/5/2008 6:34:20 PM |
The Bulls have a new coach in Vinny Del Negro and a roster that has the average age of just 24-years-old. It will be interesting to see how this team plays out. The shooting guard position is so loaded that Ben Gordon, an unsigned restricted free agent, has said that he has probably played his last game as a Bull. The position though is not loaded with great talent. Larry Hughes came over in the Wallace trade, as he never emerged as LeBron James’ sidekick in Cleveland. And undersized Hinrich will probably see more time at the position as Rose gets more minutes as the season goes on.
The Bulls still have to hope one of their young power forwards, Thomas and Noah, can live up and produce like the Top 10 draft choices they were. Thomas’ play last year was below the expectations of many, as he was seen as a possible difference maker for Chicago heading into the season. It also didn’t help that the person he was traded for, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge, finished third in the Most Improved Player Award standings last year. If neither player emerges this year, Drew Gooden and his 12 ppg career average will be the only legitmate scoring threat in the post for the Bulls.
FANTASY STARTERS
Luol Deng, G/F - Deng’s numbers last season (17 ppg, 6 rbg, 47% shooting) merit him as the Bulls main threat on offense and a respectable option at small forward if fantasy owners are waiting to fill the position in the later rounds of league drafts. Deng was supposed to have a breakout season last year, but his numbers basically matched his production of the 2006-2007 season. If he has a spike in his stat line this year, which is possible since leading scorer Ben Gordon doesn’t expect to be back with the team, then that will make things even better for whoever takes Deng.
FANTASY BENCH PLAYERS
Drew Good, PF - Gooden doesn’t expect to have much competition getting rebounds and points in the paint for Chicago next year. His main rivals, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas, combined to have basically the same numbers (13 ppg, 11 rpg) as Gooden (12 ppg, 8 rpg). Also, after coming over in the Ben Wallace trade, Gooden saw his numbers with the Bulls go up to 14 points and 9 rebounds per game. While Gooden should not be your fantasy starter, as there are several better options at power forward, he would be a great addition as a plug-in bench player.
Derrick Rose, PG - Rose should see his minutes go up as the season goes on, so he may be more of a mid-season pick-up. I could see him averaging something around 9 points and 5 assists per game come the end of the season. Rose will be a top-tier fantasy player in a few years, but he needs to build chemistry with his teammates and improve on his shooting in his first few years in the league.
Andres Nocioni, F - Nocioni is another good contributor off of any fantasy bench. He should start some games for the Bulls next season and, though his points and shooting percentage were down from a year ago, he still provides fantasy owners with a three-point threat, as he hit 126 treys last year.
OFF-SEASON FANTASY STOCK INCREASES
Luol Deng, G/F - As I mentioned earlier, Gordon’s absence should mean even more opportunities for Deng to become the star people expect him to be. He is locked in with the Bulls after signing a new deal and appears to be the only player on the current roster that is guaranteed to be Rose’s running mate in the years to come. The attention Rose will get for being the No. 1 overall selection in the draft will also take some media attention away from Deng, which may allow him to shine.
OFF-SEASON FANTASY STOCK DECREASES
Kirk Hinrich, G - Now that Rose is the future of the franchise and the main piece of Chicago’s rebuilding plan, where does that leave Hinrich? He had been a solid point guard since he was selected in 2003 to replace the injured Jay Williams who never recovered from his motorcycle injury. But after a breakout 2006-2007 campaign, Hinrich saw a dip in every major statistical category last season, and that prompted to Bulls to take Rose. Hinrich has an opportunity to contribute as an alternate to Larry Hughes at shooting guard, but at only 6’3”, Hinrich will be undersized at that spot on the floor. Unless he reacts like Drew Brees did when the Chargers selected Philip Rivers in the NFL Draft, don’t expect much of a comeback from Hinrich next season.
FANTASY SLEEPER
Larry Hughes, G - An obvious choice here would be PF Tyrus Thomas, but he was a sleeper last year and did not come through for the Bulls or fantasy teams. I see Thomas breaking out when Rose does, much like Tyson Chandler did when Chris Paul took over the reins of New Orleans two years ago. With that being said, I feel that Hughes may have a good chance of becoming a solid contributor again for the Bulls.
Hughes was banished from Cleveland as part of the Ben Wallace trade last year after never being the Scottie Pippen to LeBron James’ Michael Jordan. Hughes played awful last year, as he only managed 12 points per game and shot just 38% from the field. Though he is coming off of a down year, he figures to be the starting guard for the Bulls and may be asked to help out with the scoring load to take pressure off of Deng and Nocioni. Hughes will probably never get back to the 22 points per game average he had in his last year at Washington (’04-’05), but he could bring in respectable numbers next season. |
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