Chicago Bulls 2010 Prediction: 52-30

The Chicago Bulls start their season on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City after an off season filled with anticipation and drama. The Bulls have made a number of changes in personnel and with their coaching staff, and the team should be much different than last season. Let's look at some of those changes:

New Players
After clearing cap space to go after LeBron James and some of the other leading free agents, the Bulls were left relatively empty handed. Their biggest pickup was Carlos Boozer. Boozer will miss the beginning of the season with a broken wrist, however. They also return the centerpieces of the team, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Here is the rest of the roster: The starting five for opening day will be Rose, Noah, Deng, Taj Gibson, and Keith Bogans. In addition to Boozer and Bogans, the Bulls have also picked up some solid vets in Kurt Thomas, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, and Brian Scalabrine. Rounding out the roster is Omar Asik, James Johnson and C.J. Watson.

This is a much improved roster for a variety of reasons. One, Rose has continued to improve and is now firmly in charge as the team's leader. Noah is healthier and has continued to get stronger. Deng looks like he is in the same form from a few years ago and is shooting the 3 with ease. Taj Gibson can only be improved. The Bulls outside shooting with Kyle Korver will be much improved and will spread the floor out. They may not have gotten LeBron or Wade, but this is a roster that can take them to the Eastern Conference Finals.

New Coach
Tom Thibodeau takes over as the head coach, and while he's never been the head guy before, he's been a very experienced and intelligent assistant. He's a dramatic improvement over Vinny Del Negro. Del Negro had very limited offensive and defensive schemes. The Bulls should make much better adjustments and will run more sophisticated sets. Derrick Rose recently even said this was the first time he's really had to play defense, and his bruised and stiff fingers were paying the price.

Prediction
I think the Bulls will go 52-30 and make the Eastern Conference Finals. They certainly don't stack up well enough against the Heat, but the Bulls should dominate their division. Expect Rose to become one of the top five to seven players in the league this year. Boozer should be stable and oft-injured as usual, and Noah will bring the energy every night. It'll be a fun season and the beginning of a Bulls team that can dominate for years.