It looks like the Chicago Bulls will go with five guards and seven forwards this season. Given the health history of Derrick Rose, it’s mandatory to have two guys on the roster who can run the point behind him. So with Rose, Jimmy Butler, Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Brooks as locks, the final guard slot goes to E’Twaun Moore (as we’ve chronicled before). Especially now that Kim English and Ben Hansbrough have been waived.
We’ve broken down the Chicago Bulls overall position group battles before, on the overall roster. Now it’s time to see who that seventh forward will be.
Joakim Noah is the only five. Yes, sadly true centers are going extinct. Fours include Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic. The starting three will probably be Mike Dunleavy, with Doug McDermott as the primary back-up. That means one last slot for one of three: Tony Snell, Cameron Bairstow and Nazr Mohammaed.
Snell is getting the most playing time this preseason of the three, and it’s not even close. Given that he’s the 2013 first round draft pick of the team they’re not going to give up on him this year. Bairstow, this year’s second round pick is just an afterthought. Hard to imagine the Chicago Bulls would prioritize him. As for Mohammed, it’s a bit surprising that he was even brought back this preseason.
So we’re guessing it goes to Snell.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and very often writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his features stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2