Carlos Boozer Breaks His Hand: What's Next for the Chicago Bulls?

Carlos Boozer's broken hand could potentially dismantle the Chicago Bulls in the early going of the NBA season.  

Boozer is projected to miss approximately eight weeks. Fortunately, it will only be about a month of in-season time, but with new Head Coach Tom Thibodeau at the helm, Chicago will look for the beginning of the season to be a learning process and will miss Boozer's veteran leadership.

The Bulls need all hands on deck throughout the season if they're going to be successful. Boozer, the Bulls' big summer pickup, will now have to learn a new system on the fly and adapt when he returns.  This sets the entire team back a month in its preparation as they must start anew when Boozer returns.

Boozer established himself as one of the game's top big men in Utah and now looks to bring that pedigree with him to "The Town That Michael Jordan Built."  The Duke University star is in a familiar, yet unfortunate, position with his new team as he has a rough history of injuries throughout his career.

Chicago may fend off teams until Boozer comes back, but he's a key part of their plan and will be missed through this transition process.  Thibodeau must work with the big men that he has for now and still plan as if Boozer will be back sooner rather than later.

Joakim Noah needs to be a force for Chicago down low and Taj Gibson will now see an increased role and needs to respond accordingly.

Luckily, Chicago has a favorable schedule in the beginning and could survive without Boozer, though his lack of presence will still be felt.  The urgency will be there though, and this young team needs to at least stay within striking distance for about a month or so.  

Assuming they break even without Boozer, Chicago still would find itself in a better position than they could have pictured and might use this to their advantage as the season progresses.

Their odds are low in Vegas now, but we doubted Chicago would be a "Booze" fest come June anyway.