Chicago Bulls In Deep Trouble? Pau Gasol Washed Up And Nikola Mirotic Overrated! Derrick Rose Also Uncertain; Is This A Disaster For The Windy City?

The Chicago Bulls are slated to be a contender in the Eastern Conference according to most pundits. In fact, the Bulls were considered as the best choice for Carmelo Anthony if it was all about winning. However, that assessment is by no means unanimous.

The offseason grades were released by Grantland's Andrew Sharp. Most of his grades were not among the obvious, to say the least. With the fall of Miami, most people saw the Bulls as the heir apparent to the Eastern throne and there are a number of reasons.

For one thing, the Bulls did not lose any major part of their core. They amnestied Carlos Boozer, which means they really wanted to get rid of him. DJ Augustin is gone, but he was already assuming that he will lose most of his minutes when Derrick Rose returns. He believes he should be a starter, and transferred to a team which could make him that (Detroit).

Why would the Bulls be any worse than last year's surprise first round exit team that lost to the Wizards, who are the 'It' team of the East? They will be adding Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott to that team-why is this a bad offseason for them?

Sharp reasons that Pau Gasol is washed up:

"Pau Gasol isn't the same player he was on offense three years ago, and on defense he'll be almost as big a liability as Carlos Boozer. Is he supposed to solve the scoring issues they had in the playoffs? Paying him $22 million for three years isn't bad, but if he doesn't really fix the offense, and hurts the defense, even an affordable Pau is just money that the Bulls can't spend on real solutions."

He also cited that Mirotic doesn't really fit the label "best European player outside the NBA." He cites a scouting report from SB Nation:

"Those fans expecting a new version of Dirk Nowitzki need to lower their expectations. Again, he has the skills, just like many other players, but what makes a good basketball player into an All Star is a competitive mindset and hunger to be the best. Mirotic has not been that player in Europe's biggest competition for the club that raised him and shaped him into the player he is today."

And of course, he's not sure what type of Derrick Rose will return after nearly two years of inactivity, citing that there's too much to carry on his injured knee.

This might be one of the first dissenting opinions on Chicago whose fans are not used to low ratings. If the Bulls succeed, you can be sure that their fans will rail on this assessment.