Everybody wants to say the Bulls can win ''''if Rose stays healthy''''''' I think the Cavs are contenders if James stays healthy. No he's never missed any significant time due to injury, but he's never been as old as he is nor had as many miles on his body. He's not an indestructible God, he could get hurt just as easily as any other player. And that would doom the Cavs chances. So full strength rosters are how to make a call and the Bulls are as deep as anybody.
The other thing is nobody seems to ever believe a Bulls player can improve, only regress while players on other teams always step up. A guy like Waiters has already shown to be a locker room issue, what if he doesn't take to being the fourth option and maybe he feels outside of Lebron's inner circle. Does he act up worse?
Sure, if Lebron goes down the Cavs will be screwed. I don't know about the Bulls being so deep, though. Their starting line-up and a couple of the bench guys are good. But, for the most part, their bench is pretty young at spots also pretty old at others. I'd say this group has a lot to prove. I still think that our guards as a unit are pretty weak. When you talk about improvement, these guys are keys for me.
Butler.... IF he improves as much or greater than Gibson, it would be a great thing. He could really help this team if he can become a valid shooter and ball handler. The other yet to be proven commodities are Mirotic and McDermott. Expectations are very high by Bulls fans and with expectations comes pressure. McDermott is the most significant draft pick since Rose came in and is being expected to be NBA ready. I think Mirotic, though, is the guy who if he quickly adapts to the more physical NBA game, could be a game changer.
Beyond the three players mentioned, I do not see much room for the remaining guys to improve. I think that Gibson, Rose, Noah, and Dunleavy have pretty much plateaued while the remainder, especially Gasol will be in decline.
