Chicago Bulls: Why Bulls Won't Win 2013 NBA Title with Current Talent

Two years in a row, the Chicago Bulls finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference. Two years in a row, disappointment ensued.

In 2011, the Bulls fell to the Miami Heat in five games in the conference finals. Then, this past season, Derrick Rose tragically tore his ACL in Game 1 of the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers, and Chicago proceeded to fall to the 76ers in six games.

Obviously, 2012 comes with a huge asterisk for the Bulls, as it's pretty difficult to do much of anything in the postseason when you lose a player who just happened to be the league's reigning MVP. However, one has to wonder: even if Rose remained healthy, would Chicago have gone much further?

Let me start by saying that the Bulls are a very good team. They play great defense and rebound the ball well, and that is usually enough for them to beat their opposition. If the game is close, Rose will just take over in the final minutes. Still, the question I have for Chicago is: does it have enough supporting talent around Rose to win a championship?

My answer? As of right now, no.

We all saw what happened to the Bulls in 2011 when Rose struggled in the series against the Heat. They squirmed to find any sort of consistency offensively, as Carlos Boozer quickly began to look overpaid. The rest of Chicago's roster displayed its dependency on Rose to get them going in terms of scoring the basketball.

Then, we witnessed what happened this year against Philadelphia. Once Rose went out, the Bulls looked relatively helpless. Okay; maybe "helpless" is a strong word, but they certainly didn't look very good, as they were bounced by the eighth-seeded Sixers.

Yes, I understand that Joakim Noah sprained his ankle in Game 3 and ended up missing the rest of the series, but he was there in Chicago's blowout loss in Game 2, and it's not like the Bulls were playing all that well before his injury in that Game 3.

I completely understand that it is nearly impossible to recover from losing a player of Rose's caliber, but it just begs the question: if Rose struggles throughout the entirety of a series much like he did against Miami in 2011, how will Chicago respond?

The Bulls don't really have much room to operate right now, either. As a matter of fact, it was rumored that they were seeking a deal for Noah or Luol Deng before the draft just to shed some salary. Chicago needs to be adding talent; not subtracting it.

Unfortunately, the Bulls currently just do not have cap space to make that happen. To make matters worse, they will likely be without Rose for a good portion of the 2012-13 season as he recovers from his torn ACL.

It's not like the rest of the East is sitting back and doing nothing, either. The Heat just won the title, so they obviously aren't going anywhere. The Boston Celtics had a great draft, have added Jason Terry and will be getting players such as Avery Bradley and Jeff Green (assuming they re-sign him) back from injury. The New Jersey Nets have improved as a whole.

If the Indiana Pacers retain Roy Hibbert, they'll be a threat. I won't count out the New York Knicks, either, as they do have talent.

The Bulls have some nice pieces, but I just do not think they have enough firepower, as they are currently constructed, to win an NBA championship. Can that all change with a couple of moves here and there? Absolutely, but what exactly can Chicago do?

It already lost the services of defensive stopper Omer Asik to the Houston Rockets because it couldn't afford to match the Rockets' offer (but then again, to be quite honest, that's probably a good thing, because I think Houston overpaid for Asik), and it has shown no signs of bringing in anyone of significance to better itself.

There were rumors a few months ago that the Bulls were attempting to put a package together for Pau Gasol, but now that the Los Angeles Lakers have landed Steve Nash, I would imagine that Gasol is likely staying put.

I respect the Bulls for compiling such successful regular seasons for the past two years, especially this past season with Rose missing a considerable chunk of time with multiple injuries (not even including the torn ACL).

However, it seems to me that they are one of those teams (much like the San Antonio Spurs out West) that can rip through the regular season. But when it comes to facing the best of the best in the playoffs, they just don't have enough to get by.

If the Bulls are playing a team such as the Heat or the Celtics in a seven-game series, what will happen if Rose is off for a couple of games? Due to the fact that this Chicago team is awfully similar to the one that fell to Miami in 2011, I imagine more of the same: losing close games because of a lack of support for Rose.

Chicago could go and prove me wrong this year, but unless it goes out and makes a move or two to improve its roster, I just don't see how that can happen.