Last season the Chicago Bulls' championship aspirations were derailed by an unfortunate injury to then reigning MVP Derrick Rose. The number one-seeded Bulls were facing the eighth seeded Philadelphia 76ers, when Rose tore his left ACL and is expected to miss eight-to-12 months.
Bulls' general manager Gar Foreman did not resign most of his team bench players from last season, but he replaced them with some solid and inexpensive veterans on short-term contacts.
With Rose being sideline to begin the year, Chicago added veteran point guard Nate Robinson and they drafted point guard Marquis Teague as the 29th overall pick in this year's draft to replace CJ Watson and John Lucas. They also brought in Nazr Mohammed to replace back-up center Omer Asik.
Optimistic reports say Rose will be in January at the earliest, so I started him on Jan. 7, against the Cleveland Cavilers. Kirk Hinrich and Nate Robinson do an admirable job replacing him as the team went 23-9 in the first 32 games of the season. But Rose and his 92 player rating are missed as the team tends to lose games against the Eastern Conference's best teams.
The starting lineup will include guards Hinrich and Hamilton, forwards Deng and Boozer, and center Joakim Noah. The addition of Marco Belinelli gives the Bulls a great perimeter threat and he may push an aging Hamilton for minutes. Without Rose the team's passing ability will definitely suffer. According to the NBA 2K13, the game has Rose's replacement Hinrich only averaging slightly above 5 assist per game.
According to NBA 2K13, the Bulls will return to the Eastern Conference Final, after a one-year hiatus, but will find a familiar roadblock in the NBA Playoffs, the Miami Heat. The Heat push pass the Bulls in six games, but Rose's return makes the series closer than it would have been if he was out for the series.
Here is how the game simulates the Bulls' season:
Regular Season Record: 57-25 second in the Eastern Conference
Top scorers: SG Richard Hamilton 14.4 PPG, SF Luol Deng 15.8 PPG, PG Derrick Rose 24.7 PPG
Leading rebounders: SF Luol Deng 8.0 RPG, PF Carlos Boozer 8.5 RPG, C Joakim Noah 11.7 RPG
Assist Leader: SG Richard Hamilton 3.7 APG, PG, Kirk Hinrich 5.3 APG, PG Derrick Rose 7.3 APG
Playoff Opponents
Round 1 Washington Wizards, The Bulls win the series 4-1
Round 2: Brooklyn Nets, the Bulls win the series 4-1
Eastern Conference Finals: Miami Heat, the Heat win the series 4-2
NBA Finals: Did not qualify
Check out our other NBA 2K13 team previews:
Miami Heat
Oklahoma City Thunder
San Antonio Spurs
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
Philadelphia 76ers
New York Knicks
Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls
Los Angeles Clippers
Minnesota Timberwolves
Portland Trail Blazers
Cleveland Cavaliers
