He's still an average shot creator for both himself and teammates. If he can show some improved play making chops, that adds a serious wrinkle the Chicago attack.

Carter Jnr had an interrupted rookie campaign, but my word did he show some flashes! Now, by flashes, we're not talking thundering dunks or highlight blocks, but rather he played with intelligence beyond his 20 years.

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Strong positional play, brilliant passing and solid rebounding are Carter's thing – catnip to basketball geeks. Throw in some long range shooting and quick hands on defence, and you get a player in the Al Horford role – underappreciated, but vital to winning basketball. He can develop into the player that enables his teammates on offense and covers their mistakes on defence.

Coach Jim Boylan might be conservatively described as 'Old School'. He likes set plays, walking it up the court, limiting mistakes. That doesn't always align with his troops strengths.

In rookie point guard Coby White, Boylan has a flagon of Red Bull. Does he decide to leave it be, or rip open the can & gulp it down? If it's the latter, White will lead an electric fast break, with plenty of options to hit in Lavine, Markannen and Porter.

Ahh, yes....Otto. Overpaid? Absolutely. A defensive stopper? No, not really. Although he's satisfactory at that end. A fine do-it-all 3rd wheel in the offense? Oh, yes! The mid season trade for Porter transformed the Bulls attack.

The Bulls finished 29th in Offensive Rating last season. But for a three week period after the Porter trade for supposed offensive studs in Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis, the Bulls offence was ranked #2 with a bullet. It's worth pointing out that through that period the Bulls had all of their young core on the court. That's telling. Perhaps Chicago finally have the right mix?

Add in the vets in Young, a low maintenance high efficiency offensive player & menacing defender to teach Carter the ropes, and the 6'7” Czech Satoransky – fresh off a fantastic World Cup – to hold the fort whilst Young rides the rookie bumps, and you've suddenly got yourself a very solid core rotation.

Back to the question – can the Bulls get back into the post-season? It's probably a year too soon for them. But there is some hope. Most Vegas books have the Bulls at 31.5 wins this season. A significant jump from last season but clearly not enough to vault them into the playoffs.

However, last season's Orlando Magic were pegged to win 31.5 games before making the playoffs with 42 wins. The season prior, Indiana won 48 games behind a transformed Victor Oladipo despite Vegas setting the line at – you guessed it – 31.5 wins.

So, don't expect the Bulls to roar back into the playoffs this season. But don't be totally shocked if they do.

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