Last Season:	41-41
Preview prediction:	55-27
Oddsmakers:	48-34

Continuing with this implicit indication of an accelerated championship timetable that was signaled by the Ben Wallace signing, I don’t think it’s out of the question that Paxson’s next move will be a trade-deadline blockbuster. Likely packaging a member of his young core (outside of Hinrich, and to a lesser extent, Deng) with either draft picks, expiring contracts, or recent draftees (they have assets to spare) to land a ’superstar’ to play alongside Wallace and be that go-to guy that the team lacks on offense. Pax has shown patience thus far in his tenure in terms of holding on to his drafted talent, but he also has indicated that while he’s happy with his tough young team, he’s not satisfied until the Bulls win the whole thing.

A return to the Finals would be a great story for the Bulls, especially so soon after the 6 abysmal seasons that followed MJ's retirement (see chart below). And, there's a precedent for defensive-minded teams winning the NBA title even without a go-to scorer: the 2003-04 Pistons. As with last year's Bulls, none of the '03-04 Pistons averaged as many as 18 points per game. The Pistons also made the most of a trading deadline deal that brought in Rasheed Wallace and Mike James.

On the other hand, those Pistons were arguably stronger than this year's Bulls at nearly every position, even before the trade. Ben Wallace today doesn't seem as strong as he was in his prime in '03-04. Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton were each better than Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon. Mehmet Okur was a more effective version of Mike Sweetney. The Bulls' only advantage may be at small forward, where Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni probably beat out that year's Tayshaun Prince.

By the way: If you haven't already done so, I'd recommend checking out NBA Basketball and Other Unrelatedness, where The Hype has been posting a drawing for each of the 11 team previews so far. His Chris Paul SLAM cover is especially funny.