The Bulls have lost center Aaron Gray for the next six to eight weeks due to a stress fracture in his left fibula. Luckily for the Bulls they are very deep at center. Brad Miller and Joakim Noah should be able to handle the extra minutes until Gray is ready to return to action.

When 29-year old John Salmons came over in a trade with Brad Miller from the Kings the Bulls thought they would make the playoffs. They did exactly that and Salmons comes into this season as the starting shooting guard. He played in 79 games for the Kings+Bulls last season and he averaged 37.5 minutes, 18.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Salmons also is a outstanding shooter as he hit 41.5% from three point range last year. Salmons is a young 29 years old as he didn’t play a lot during the early part of his career so he has a lot of time left to help the Bulls. 28-year old Kirk Hinrich will be the #3 guard on the Bulls as he can handle both shooting guard and point guard. He played in 51 games for the Bulls last season and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 9.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Hinrich could start on a lot of NBA teams so he should help the Bulls a lot off the bench. Jannero Pargo could also get some minutes at shooting guard this season.

PREDICTED GRADE FOR THE SHOOTING GUARDS IN 2009-2010: B

The Bulls have re-signed 24-year old center Aaron Gray to a 1-year deal worth around a million bucks. Gray played in 61 games (1 start) for the Bulls last year and he averaged 10.0 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He has now played two years for the Bulls in which he has played in 117 games (19 starts) in which he has averaged 11.4 minutes, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. The 7-foot Gray gives the Bulls pretty solid depth at center.

20-year old Derrick Rose just scratched the surface of his potential last season. He played in 81 games for the Bulls last year and he averaged 37.0 minutes, 16.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. I look for all of Rose’s numbers to improve this season except maybe the minutes as the Bulls won’t want to burn him out. Rose will make a huge push to be a All-Star this season for the Bulls. 29-year old Jannero Pargo will likely be the backup to Rose. He last played during the 2007-08 season with the Hornets so he could be rusty when the season starts. He has played in 316 games in his NBA career and he has averaged 16.2 minutes, 6.9 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. 38-year old Lindsey Hunter is back again as he will serve as a defensive specialist. Hunter played in 28 games for the Bulls last season and he averaged 9.5 minutes, 2.6 points, 0.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Now if anything were to happen that would keep Rose out of action for a while the Bulls would no doubt start Kirk Hinrich if they still have him around.

PROJECTED POSITION GRADE FOR THE 2009-2010 NBA SEASON: B+

After watching the 2009 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies, I had an even greater feeling of respect for John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, and Michael Jordan.  Each speech was entertaining, heartfelt, and sincere as you got to see the huge heart and big smile of David Robinson on display.  You got to see the hidden comedian in John Stockton, as he had the crowd laughing every 30 seconds.  Jerry Sloan reluctantly gave his speech, and although slow and monotone, you got an inside look at what kind of life Sloan had and why he is the tough, no nonsense guy that he is.  The usual tough and emotionless (unless hes yelling at a ref or player) Sloan paused and fought back tears when he began to speak about his former teammate and long-time friend Norm Van Lier, who passed away earlier this year.

Then there was Vivian Stringer, who the only thing I knew about before tonight was that she is the head coach of Rutgers University Woman’s Basketball team.  I’m not exactly a woman’s basketball fan and the only reason I knew she was Rutgers coach is because of that idiot Don Imus and his “nappy headed hos” comment he made about Stringer’s 2007 Final Four team.

What I learned from Stringer’s speech is that she is an incredibly strong and influential woman who overcame a lot to get where she is today.  Stringer was an essential part in getting equality for women in athletics long before Title IX was enacted and brought three separate teams to the Final Four.  She battled personal tragedies when her daughter was paralyzed and unable to speak from a Meningitis infection as a young child.  Tragedy struck again with the sudden and untimely death of her husband when he was only 47-years-old, but she persevered to mentor and influence generations of young women and strove for their equality on and off the court.

Then, of course, there was Michael.  “His Airness” was in tears before he could even begin his speech, as he went on to speak about his competitive fire and all the people that fueled that fire.  My favorite story was when a young Bryan Russell told a then retired Michael Jordan in 1994 that he could have guarded Michael and that he could shut him down.  When Michael returned he wreaked havoc on Russell for the rest of his career, including a few game winning shots over Russell in a few different NBA Finals.

It seemed as if Mike had plenty of fuel left to play, and half-jokingly talked about playing as a 50-year-old.  He could probably still average 15 a game at 50.  Hell, if he read this he would say he’d average 20 easily.  That was the great thing about Michael, the extreme competitiveness but also that extreme confidence.  The belief in himself that he had what it takes, no matter what.  Michael Jordan is the best to ever play the game of basketball but is also probably the most competitive and driven player the NBA has ever seen.  This Hall of Fame class is the best ever.

It’s hard to argue that Michael Jordan is not the best NBA player of all time and for those of you who think otherwise; well… you’re just wrong.  Whether it’s the six NBA championships, the five NBA MVPs, the six NBA Finals MVPs, the 14 All-Star Games, nine time NBA all defensive first team, Defensive player of the year award, or the countless other awards and statistical achievements – there is plenty of evidence to prove he is the greatest.  Yet, it was more than just the amazing achievements Mike made on the court; it was the way he did them as he had the swagger and style to go along with his amazing abilities.  He not only took over the league, he took over the world as he revolutionized the athletic shoe and apparel industry, was a marketing machine, and helped make basketball a global game.  Everyone still wants to “Be Like Mike” and I think the outdated Jerry West NBA logo should be changed to the Air Jordan “Jumpman” logo, although obvious patent and contractual problems will probably always prevent that from happening.  The Hall of Fame ceremonies are from September 10-12 in Springfield, Massachusetts and the other members of the Class of 2009 inductees includes San Antonio Spurs’ great David Robinson, Utah Jazz point guard and NBA all-time assist and steals leader John Stockton, Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, and Rutgers University women’s head coach Vivian Stringer.

A 6’8″ 250 lb. Small Forward with handles, a quick first step, range to the 3 point line, quick feet to defend small guards, size to bang with the 4′s and 5′s, and explosiveness to jump over people at the rim. Sounds like an all-star description right? Sounds like a player your familiar with right? If you read the first line in this paragraph and you didn’t read the headline you would think I was talking about LeBron James right? Well had James Johnson been exposed to the AAU circuit before his Junior year in high school, and been hooked up with a powerful shoe company perhaps he would be spoken about in the same breath as LBJ.

James Johnson, however grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a basketball nowhere, and then blew up on the AAU scene going into his senior year. He was ranked in the top 50 and commited to Wake Forest. Despite playing with shoot first point guard Jeff Teague he finished 2nd in the ACC freshman of the year voting. He was dominant at times at Wake despite not being featured enough. That may explain his drop to #16 in the NBA draft despite having a skill set only comparable to the elite small forwards in the NBA.

 His jump shot and handle needs refining but it is there. Look at James Johnson play and see who he reminds you of in the NBA. I think of Carmelo Anthony, LBJ, and a young Antoine Walker. While there were some good players in the ’09 draft taken ahead of Johnson there were not 15 of them. Sure Blake Griffin will dominate. Guards like James Harden will be an automatic 20ppg scorer for years, Ricky Rubio will make highlight reels sick of him, and guys like Stephen Curry and Johnny Flynn will score in bunches, but with the exception of Griffin are any of them all-stars? All-stars are unique. They are matchup problems. They have size, strength and skill combinations no one else has, and James Johnson definitely fits that description, and the Bulls are very fortunate to have had him fall to #16.

 Playing with Derrick Rose won’t hurt either. The 6’4″ point guard prodigy needs athletes that can run with him, and he will set Johnson up for better shots than he ever has gotten before. Add that with his ability to get his own shot and the Bulls may have their dynamic duo for the next 12 years

The Bulls haven’t really done much this off-season. They saw Ben Gordon sign with the division rival Detroit Pistons which had to hurt. They also bought out Tim Thomas and let Anthony Roberson go. What did the Bulls do to add to the team you ask? They re-signed veteran backup point guard Lindsay Hunter and they signed shooting guard Jannero Pargo who did not play in any games last season. The Bulls did draft two power forwards in the first round in James Johnson and Taj Gibson who they hope will give them a lot of minutes this season.

GRADE FOR THE FRONT OFFICE SO FAR: D-