Here are impressions as the preseason comes to a close: Hinrich is playing better than I expected. Belinelli has been horrible and seems to be the biggest disappointment. Nate Robinson seems to be muting his show-boat tendencies and is playing better team basketball than I expected. Is this wishful thinking or is Boozer playing better defense? He seems more active defensively and seems to be in better position having his arms raised. I am concerned that Thibodeau may not have learned anything from the Rose injury and will again overuse Deng and Hinrich. I am concerned about Hinrich playing in the last preseason game after he tweaked a muscle. What is your impression of the Bulls as preseason closes? Bruce Roberts
I think that the Bulls should try to get James Harden from Oklahoma City. He is, in my eyes, a good fit for what the Bulls need when it comes to the SG/PG positions. Kevin Crespo
Sam: He’s a good fit for a lot of teams, though mostly teams like Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando and Houston which have salary cap room after this season. My guess, as I wrote the other day, is the Thunder will ride out the season with Harden as they have a chance to win a championship and don’t need to do anything as they can match any offer. It would seem Harden will get a maximum deal at about $15 million annually. There have been indications the Thunder don’t want to pay that. So maybe they eventually make a deal. The Bulls have some valuable assets in the rights to Mirotic and a Charlotte potential lottery pick in 2016. They might be able to cash those in with an extra player for Harden as the Thunder wouldn’t take a big salary. But then the Bulls would have to pay Harden $15 million at a time when they have four players earning more than $10 million. No team has near that many eight figure salary players. To do that you’d have to blow up the bench again and take on nothing but minimum players and basically give up your top picks for the next five years. Is Harden good enough to be that elusive second star? He sure didn’t look it when he was needed in last year’s Finals. I’m not sure I make that sort of investment for him even if I doubt Oklahoma City would be interested, anyway.
I’ll be the realist here. Don't do the deal for Harden because we really don't know how good he is yet and we don't know how good Derrick will be post-injury. Too risky. Joe Tanner
Oftentimes, I'll see experienced journalists take creative license and construct their 'Ultimate Player', i.e. if they were to take only the best attributes of certain players that have played the game, who would they take? (e.g. Michael Jordan's athleticism/heart, Reggie Miller's catch-and-shoot, Hakeem's post moves, etc.). I have, however, never witnessed any journalist undertake the elusive task of constructing the 'Ultimate Coach.' From your experience covering the NBA, what attributes from each coach would you use to construct the ultimate coach? In other words: who's the best x's and o's guy, the best "player" coach, the best with the media, the best at getting the most out of their players, the best dressed, the best hairdo, the best at constructing offensive schemes or defensive schemes, the best scouter, the best at fostering a healthy team chemistry, etc. that you've witnessed in your tenure as an NBA journalist? From what we've witnessed of Thibs, do you think he should be on this list and/or do you think he'll ever make a case for himself? I'd think that he'd be up there for defense and knocking on the door for some other attributes. Arman Fathi
How can the trade exception the Bulls received in the Korver deal be used by the team this season? At what point can it be exercised? How do you see the Bulls using it? Does it have an expiration date? Also, I think this team will surprise and do well enough to compete for a top seed in the East this year without the outstanding Derrick Rose. The new bench will be a key to I think this team will surprise and do well enough to compete for a top seed in the East this year without Rose. The new bench will be a key to the teams success this season and the results from preseason have been encouraging to this point. I think Belinelli and Radmonovic may be the weak links. Craig Chandler
Did the Bulls consider Gilbert Arenas over the Summer? I know he ranks somewhere between totally delusional and legitimately crazy, he can be a huge distraction, and I think Thibs would have a heart attack trying to coach him, so I'm not saying that they really should have tried to sign him. But what happened to this guy? He used to be a top ten player. After the gun incident, it seems like he never got a chance to prove he could still play. Wasn't the word out of Memphis that he was being a reasonably good teammate on the Grizzlies? Has his game actually dropped off so much that he had to run to China or are teams looking the other way mostly due to his personality? Greg Malen
I'll take back what I told you last week about Nate being a better playmaker. When he can't score, he reverts back to his old ways. Over dribbling like C.J. Watson and John Lucas III do. Marco Belinelli was the clear victim of Nate's over dribbling. Belinelli is not as sharp as KK was in shooting that ball. Belinelli is not a stand around guy who waits in the corner. He needs to have the ball in his hands in pick and roll situation to be effective. Unfortunately, he doesn't get the ball much with Nate monopolizing it. Can Thibs remedy this? Peter Jimenez
I think the Bulls should look into the recently cut Terrence Williams and Johnny Flynn. While not great they do add athleticism, speed, and depth as both have starter experience. Flynn did play well for Portland down the stretch last year. I think it would be worth a flyer on these two. Rocky Rosado
I like that the team has a better free throw percentage, but I worry about how bad it is in 3-point shots compared to the previous year. The strange thing is that this year we have 3-point shooters better than last year. How will it affect the gameplay? In the regular season each player will level with historical averages. Piero Paguaga
So let's recap. Vladimir is out of shape and already in the dog house. Belinelli is shooting 25%. Jimmy Butler isn’t taking the leap. The rookie Teague has more turnovers than points and more fouls than assists. None of them have hit a 3 pointer yet. Is it time to start panicking about our bench? Matt Thacker
It appears the Bulls need Hinrich on the court at all times to succeed. I don't think they need to get rid of Robinson as I believe he can contribute as a scorer, but should they look to sign another point guard? Teague isn't ready and I don't see Jaric making it either, should they try to get Derek Fisher? I think they could use another guy who can actually run the offense. Steve Schnakenberg
Of the new players brought in (Radmanovic, Belinelli, Robinson, Teague, Mohammed, Hinrich), it's easy to see their offensive stats, but are any of the new guys, other than Hinrich, considered better than average defensive players? Joel Goodman
Regarding your concerns in your last two Monday columns about Austin Rivers and your high regard at draft time, are you doing a 360 like Costanza? Don Probst
Is Rose going to the games? I have looked but I don't see him on the bench. Jim Harlan
I'm getting excited about this Bulls team. I like what the brass has done this past summer. I know it was hard breaking up the "Bench Mob" but I do think the bench was upgraded. I've got a new name for the Bulls bench players... "The Bench Brigade." Nate Robinson was a great pick up... Here's my christmas list: David West/Kevin Martin/Metta World Peace (Yes I said it). Stan Ross