Top Ten question marks looking forward to the '09-10 Bulls season

The 2009 season wrapped up Saturday with the Bulls falling short in a series many are calling the greatest of all-time. For a team that sputtered into the playoffs, they played up to and possibly over their potential for the majority of the seven-game series. Unfortunately though, it wasn't enough, as they had their chances in Game 7, but couldn't get it done.

With this surprisingly stellar performance however, it almost brings more question marks towards the off season than initially anticipated. Below are 10 questions- some newborn- looking forward to the next season.

10. Is Brad Miller going to continue to be a "force"?



Miller not only played well after coming over from Sacramento, but also became squad's form of Adam Burish, the team enforcer. While he could make an argument for most unathletic-looking guy in the League, he is the team's most defined center. But he will be 33 and with an exception of Lindsey Hunter, the senior member age-wise of the squad.

9. How will this last playoff appearance affect them?

Would you rather see the Bulls lose in the fashion they did with a tough Game 7 loss or see them maybe advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to be rocked by Cleveland?

I would prefer the former, with the idea that they will go into the season with chip on their shoulder, ending their year by losing to a team they not only could have beaten, but probably should have. Getting to the ECF is solid, don't get me wrong, but it could give them an unrealistic sense of confidence and getting blown out by the Lebrons could put a damper on the young squad's thoughts.

Look at Atlanta. They lost a tough Game 7 to the C's last year, and came back this season to take the 4-seed in the East and advance to the second round.

8. Where do they look on draft day?

I think I am alone with this idea as for TTCSers, but I honestly don't know if anything they select with the 16th and 26th picks will benefit the team ever, much less anytime in the future, if the team stands pat. Regardless of what happens in the free agent market (more on that in a bit), they have decent enough depth that would make Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough (NBAdraft.net's projected selections) entirely unneeded.

A big body like DeJuan Blair might be an interesting pick. But if anything, they would probably go bigger than the 6-foot-6, near 290-pounder from Pitt, though there aren't many true centers or even many true good-sized power forwards. Maybe they go with Gani Lawal from Georgia Tech?

7. Will Tyrus become a more complete player?

Tyrus Thomas is a freak, probably one of the most athletic players in the East. But this is a case where he is almost too athletic and needs to control himself. He will always be compared to LaMarcus Aldridge, and so, far they are on entirely different tiers. Aldridge is almost exactly what they ideally are looking for in forward now.

At times during the Celtics series though, TT showed that he can harness his abilities and still be a force. If he can look more like that more often in 2009-10, the gap between the two could close.

6. Will Rose be a 20/10 guy next year?

It is clear, eventually Rose will be a 20-point, 10-assist guy within the first five years. But the question is how soon. While it would be great for it to be next year, I would rather take a few points off his total if he could cut down on his turnovers. Rondo won the point guard battle during the series because of that alone. There were a few times where he would go to the hole, be surrounded by defenders, panic and throwing the ball away.

He will learn though, and those turnovers will become assists.

5. Is Joakim good enough to be trade bait?

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Just a theory here. I realize I have been talking about the needs for another big guy, but maybe this is the way they upgrade the position. Nobody's stock went up more than Noah's after the first series, and while I think he is solid, who's to say he outplayed himself for seven games? Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which way you feel about this), Paxson is missing his index finder when it comes to pulling the trigger on moves that have questionable outcomes.

4. How much did Vinny Del Negro learn from the playoff series?

Only time will tell to see how much VDN will improve. But one thing is for sure, after the dog fight with Boston, Del Negro has to have learned something, or else there is no hope for him to improve. Because let's face it, if any person involved in a series like that doesn't learn from the experience, then there is no way anything else they face, can.

3. Do they look for another big?

This has become the topic of discussion for years, and they thought they had it solved with Curry and Chandler. But the trio now (Noah, Thomas, Miller) could use another guy to compliment them. And while they have bigger cap issues at the moment than getting another big (more coming up, I promise), and they may be saving up for 2010 and Chris Bosh, there are a few solid 4.5's available.

Rasheed Wallace and Lamar Odom (huge Odom fan here) are unrestricted free agents, oh and Chris Andersen anybody?

2. What role will Loul Deng play?

It's funny to think that many (myself included) entirely forgot that Loul Deng was a member of the Bulls. It's easy to do when John Salmons does a stellar job replacing/overtaking the swingman position however. This will be an interesting race, as JS is a more athletic but less defensive minded than #9. They did have Salmons playing the 4 for a bit of time when the Bulls played a three-guard offense, so I suppose they could play together for a few minutes per.

1. What happens with Ben Gordon?

This question has been lingering over Paxson and the rest of the organization for the majority of the season and now is time to see what happens. Commentators say they need to find a way to sign him, but that would put Reinsdorf significantly over the cap and would cancel out any chance of signing somebody large in 2010.

Hinrich did prove he could be one of the top defensive players in the league, matching up with Paul Pierce extremely well, shutting him down entirely in Game 5. Something like that is always wanted by any basketball team, so his stock and trade desire did rise. That would clear up a lot of cap space for one of the game's best closers, Gordon.

I would like to see Kirk around in '09-10 more so than Gordon, simply because they won't need him as much as they do in two years because of the almost guarantee that Rose will become the go-to guy sooner than later. Not to mention BG's defense is worse than below average.

They could use "Gordon money" on either another big or -what they will more likely do- hold out and not spend money on either him or anybody, use one of their draft picks on a formidable 2-guard, which there are a lot of, and try to hit it big in the 2010 free agent market.