Recently in NBA Category

Vinny Del Negro's Bulls will seek to improve on their 41-41 record of last season.

UPDATE: Last chance, Bulls fans: Get your prediction in before tonight's tipoff against the Spurs -- how many wins for the Bulls this season and how far do they advance in the playoffs? So far, we have Tim as the leading optimist with 55 wins and a possible Eastern finals berth. Drew (54) and RPK (53, 2nd-round exit) are close behind, followed by Villano (51, 2nd round), Seedy (48), Keith (46, 1st round), Tim Little (45, 2nd round), Qumar (43) and then Hitman and yours truly at 42 (hey, Hitman, we finally agree on something!). Get your prediction in by 7 p.m. Central and we'll see who was right come April.

By popular demand -- OK, by Edgar's demand -- we present our Bulls' season preview post, in which we solicit your predictions on what their final regular-season record will be and how far you foresee them advancing in the playoffs.

Derrick Rose has been glued to the bench for most of the preseason by an ankle injury.

A week from tonight, the Bulls finally tip off the regular season against the San Antonio Spurs. This seemingly endless preseason -- extended due to the London trip -- has been made even more excruciating by the absence of Derrick Rose, who sustained an ankle injury in the first game and hasn't been back since.

As the mysterious injury lingers on, concern has grown about whether Rose will be ready for Opening Night. Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro didn't put minds at ease the other day when he allowed that it was ''within the realm of possibility" that his star point guard wouldn't be ready for the opener. It's enough to make a Bulls fan extremely nervous.

Michael Jordan enters the Hall of Fame tonight (5:30-8 p.m. Central time, ESPN).

Cherished memories of Michael Jordan: The list is potentially endless. His game-winning shot to beat Utah and clinch the Bulls' sixth championship in 1998. The shot over Craig Ehlo in 1988 that beat Cleveland and began the Bulls' playoff run. The double-nickel game in which he put 55 points on the Knicks in Madison Square Garden after coming back his first retirement in 1995. You could go on and on and on.

Derrick Rose will renew excitement in Chicago come October, as will the Blackhawks.

Typical Sox: After taking three of four from the Red Sox, they get blown out by the A's on Tuesday and miss a rare chance to gain ground on Detroit. They're still eight games out, way too big a deficit to make up even with six remaining games vs. the Tigers.

Typical Cubs: They spank the Pirates for the second straight day, but again fail to gain any ground either on St. Louis (which rallied in the ninth to beat Milwaukee) or on wild-card-leading Colorado. Amazingly, the Cubs still haven't gained as much as a half-game on St. Louis on any day since Aug. 4, falling from a tie for the division lead to 11.5 games out.

Baseball season is over in Chicago, and no matter how exciting Jay Cutler and the Bears may be, we can't talk about them every day. So thank goodness that some familiar friends from last spring soon will be back in action.

Rasheed Wallace smiles at a news conference after joining the Celtics last week.

The Carlos Boozer-to-the-Bulls report last week generated a lot of buzz among fans on this blog, who seemingly were split down the middle on whether the Utah Jazz forward would be a good addition. Unfortunately, whatever trade talks that might have taken place don't seem to be going anywhere, leaving the Bulls with nothing to offset the free-agent departure of Ben Gordon.

So which NBA teams are having outstanding offseasons, in terms of personnel changes that will make them better next season? The Cavaliers made the splashiest move, bringing in Shaquille O'Neal to play alongside LeBron James. But according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, the team that has fared best in this offseason is the San Antonio Spurs.

Carlos Boozer reportedly could be dealt to the Bulls in a deal involving Tyrus Thomas.

If there's one thing the Bulls lack, it's someone who can give them consistent scoring down low. That is the most tantalizing aspect of the reported trade talks that could send Utah forward Carlos Boozer to the Bulls in a three-team deal that supposedly would involve Tyrus Thomas and Kirk Hinrich. I've never been a huge Boozer fan, but this still sounds like a good idea.

A smiling Vince Carter shows off his new Orlando Magic jersey Thursday.

Two blockbuster trades overshadowed the NBA draft on Thursday. After the Cleveland Cavaliers finalized their acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal from Phoenix, the Orlando Magic answered by obtaining eight-time All-Star forward Vince Carter from New Jersey.

Both teams served notice that they intend to remain the class of the Eastern Conference, and the deals only served to raise -- to towering heights -- the bar for the up-and-coming Bulls, who were unable to package their two first-round picks in a deal to move up and instead settled for a couple of unspectacular power forwards.

James Johnson celebrates Wake Forest's 70-68 upset of Duke last January.

UPDATED: As projected by Sun-Times NBA beat writer John Jackson in his mock draft in Thursday's paper, the Bulls selected Wake Forest power forward James Johnson with their No. 16 pick. With the 26th pick, the Bulls took another power forward, 6-8 Taj Gibson of Southern California.

Gerald Henderson works out Monday for Charlotte, the consensus choice to take the former Duke guard with the No. 12 pick in Thursday's draft.

UPDATE: Bulls general manager Gar Forman met the media Monday, and although he deflected questions about whether he will move up in the draft with the standard "all options remain open" response, the Bulls reportedly have their eye on Duke guard Gerald Henderson if they can package their No. 16 and No. 26 picks and move up.

Ohio State center B.J. Mullens is 7-foot-1, but is described as "raw'' and ''a project.''

The NBA draft is Thursday, and although the Bulls reportedly are interested in packaging their two first-round picks and moving up, they will have the No. 16 and No. 26 selections as it stands now. Who might the Bulls take first at No. 16? I did a quick check of a dozen popular online mock drafts and the consensus is -- drum roll, please -- B.J. Mullens!

LeBron James and the Cavs came up short Saturday against the Magic.

If having LeBron James isn't enough to get the Cleveland Cavaliers into the NBA Finals, what's it going to take for the Bulls to make it back to the mountaintop? Couldn't help but ponder that sobering reality after watching Cleveland -- which swept both Detroit and Atlanta -- come up short against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. "Superman" scored 40 points Saturday and the Magic easily closed out the Cavs 103-90 in Game 6 to advance to a showdown against Kobe and the Lakers.

Detroit's Darren Helm (upper right) celebrates his game-winning OT goal Wednesday.

A six-week odyssey of postseason thrills and chills ended abruptly for Chicago sports fans Wednesday night, but the significance of what two long-downtrodden teams accomplished will resonate throughout what should be an interesting offseason.