5 New Year's Resolutions for the Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are rolling. Winners of nine of their last 10 games—including six straight—they’re finding out just how many ways they can beat teams with their deep, versatile new roster.

But that doesn’t mean they’re on cruise control. There’s still a lot of work left to do in Chicago. A wide-open NBA landscape means this is a premier year for the surging Bulls to snag a championship—but they’ll have to have everything in top order to do so.

What benchmarks should the Bulls strive toward in the new year to get closer to the Larry O’Brien trophy?

Minute Limits on Stars

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Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah are both recovering from knee surgeries. Pau Gasol is just flat old.

Monitoring the minutes on each of these three starters will help the Bulls be at full health for playoff time—a feat they haven’t accomplished since the 2010-11 season.

Rose and Noah are averaging a reasonable 27.8 and 31.5 minutes per game, respectively, and have sat for a combined 17 games. That’s an encouraging sign for the evolution of coach Tom Thibodeau, who has a reputation for running his best players into the ground.

Jimmy Butler, the league's leader in minutes per game with 40.1, is a bit of an exception to the rule for now. While his high usage could come to bite Thibodeau in the posterior, it's not terribly likely; Butler is young, seemingly made of teflon, and a blossoming star who's incredibly productive.

The 34-year-old Gasol, however, is playing a staggering 35.1 minutes per contest. For a team with one of the deepest frontcourts in the league, this figure is alarming. While Pau hasn’t shown any real signs of fatigue or hurt yet, continuing to give him this much burn is almost sure to change that.

If the Bulls want to win a title, now’s not the time to do that. The postseason starts in April, and Thibodeau should scale back Gasol’s minutes. Treating the veteran as if he’s also coming off of an injury is the coach’s best course, as aging 7-footers are all health time bombs waiting to blow.

Optimize Big-Man Rotations

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The Bulls’ wealth of quality big men isn’t all rosy. While it’s been a big part of their success this year, it’s also the biggest source of headaches for Thibodeau.

Rookie Nikola Mirotic has considerably clouded the Bulls’ lineup clarity simply by playing so well. Per ESPN’s Mike Wilbon:

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Mirotic [is getting] more playing time than anybody thought possible. He's the best rookie in the league and is contributing to a team with serious ambition. And all that sounds perfect ... except suppose that [Taj] Gibson, who has become one of the league's best closers, objects to his minutes being cut because of some hotshot rookie? Despite Gibson's completely professional demeanor, scouts and opposing players are already wondering how that dynamic could play in the Bulls' locker room.

"

Rather than necessarily moving Gibson via trade, Thibodeau does need to find a way to optimize him on a crowded team. Giving him more of Gasol’s minutes—especially against teams with more mobile bigs—is a good start.

Obtain the No. 1 Seed in Eastern Conference

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The Toronto Raptors have played well this season, but the Bulls have beat them twice and all but proved they’re the superior team.

The Bulls overtaking them for the top seed in the conference should happen by the end of January, during which Chicago faces a soft schedule. While home-court advantage isn’t everything, it also shouldn’t be too hard for the Bulls to get. They’re deeper, more experienced and just straight better than anyone in their conference.

And with Thibodeau behind the wheel, you can be sure the Bulls will do everything within their abilities to climb to the top of the East. This resolution is a mere formality.

Heal and Develop Doug McDermott

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Rookie Doug McDermott has not had quite the level of production as his counterpart Mirotic.

Doug looked shaky in his 17 games before a meniscus injury, shooting just 23 percent from beyond the three-point arc—an area of specialty for the Creighton University standout.

"The surgery went well. Now he has to begin the rehab," Thibodeau said to reporters before a December 14 game against the Miami Heat. "So just be patient. Let him work his way through it."

Whether McDermott can contribute significantly in his first season with the Bulls is anyone’s guess—but he probably can’t. Thibodeau doesn’t tend to trust rookies much, with Mirotic’s dazzling play sticking out as an anomaly.

But the Bulls are going to play some easy contests, and they’re a lock for a high playoff seed out East. Giving McDermott some expanded minutes in these games will be essential for his development going forward, regardless of when he’s ready to do more for his team in the games that matter. Thibodeau has to throw him out there and show some patience himself as the rookie plays through his errors and gains some needed confidence.

Seek Wing Depth Via Trade

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There aren’t a lot of weak spots on the Bulls roster, but the wing is definitely one of them.

While Mike Dunleavy Jr. has been solid as always, there’s no one his coach trusts behind him on the depth chart. Tony Snell has regressed in his second year, while a healthy McDermott is unlikely to get good enough for playoff minutes this season.

Some intriguing prospects include Denver Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler, a DePaul alum who’s been linked to rumors across the league for weeks, and veteran Andrei Kirilenko, who could become available if Philadelphia 76ers’ general manager Sam Hinkie buys him out or decides to trade him.

Either would help Chicago fill the only real hole on its roster.