Derrick Rose will have an MRI on Friday to evaluate his left wrist that he sprained in Thursday’s game against the Orlando Magic. “Derrick has a sprained wrist,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “I have no idea how bad it is. He’s going to get an MRI [Friday] to see how bad the damage is and see how he feels.” It’s unclear who will run the point if he’s out, whether that be Kirk Hinrich or Jannero Pargo, or if Flip Murray joins the starting lineup instead.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Portland: Brandon Roy scored 41 points on 14-of-22 shooting (with no threes) to go with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block against the defenseless Warriors on Thursday. Granted, this came against the Warriors, but it’s Roy’s first “statement” game since injuring his hamstring.

Atlanta: Jamal Crawford tied a season-high with 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting (4-of-7 from downtown, 9-of-11 from the foul line) with no rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes off the bench on Thursday. With all of his huge fourth quarter performances this year, this one may fly a bit under the radar, especially with the game not being on the TNT schedule. He is showing no effects from his past shoulder and thumb injuries,

Orlando: Vince Carter scored 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting (including two 3-pointers) with four rebounds, no assists, and a block in 26 minutes of action on Thursday.

Washington: JaVale McGee scored a career-high 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting with nine rebounds and an assist against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, and also tied Dwight Howard for dunks in a game this year with eight.

Miami: Michael Beasley (bruised left thigh) is listed as a game-time decision for Friday’s game against the Bulls. It’s a huge game for the Heat, who lead the Bulls by one game for the final playoff spot in the East. That will give Beasley every incentive to be out there and we’d expect him to play through mere soreness.

The decision to fire coach Vinny Del Negro has already been made and the only thing keeping him employed is the fact that the Bulls have not found a replacement. The Bulls would like to have a coach that appeals to the potential free agents available this summer, but they may have to settle for assistants Bernie Bickerstaff or Pete Myers and seek out a better option in the offseason. Once it becomes clear who will be coaching in Chicago, we’ll have a better idea of what system will be installed and what free agents, if any, will be interested in playing for the Bulls.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Los Angeles: Los Angeles Clippers F Blake Griffin (knee) continues to progress in his rehabilitation, and said that he expects to make his season debut in three weeks. Coach Mike Dunleavy agreed, saying he expects him back in the second or third week of January. This timetable appears to be solid Dunleavy will have to sort out minutes between Griffin, Marcus Camby, Rasual Butler and Al Thornton.

Sacramento: Tyreke Evans is considered to be doubtful for Monday’s game against the Nuggets after spraining his ankle in Saturday’s game against the Lakers. Evans missed Sunday’s practice after he woke up with swelling in the ankle. Beno Udrih and Donte’ Greene would be the likely starting backcourt in his absence, as this was the lineup Nov. 21 when Evans missed his only game of the season.

Houston: The Houston Rockets have told Tracy McGrady that he will not see an increase in playing time, and that they will address his situation Monday when they return from their road trip. This comes after the team gave McGrady permission to take the weekend off to be home for his son’s birthday.

Detroit: Pistons F Charlie Villanueva (foot) is in uniform and has been seen loosening up prior to Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors.

San Antonio: DeJuan Blair played for a season-high 35 minutes on Sunday, and ended up with eight points on 4-of-11 shooting with 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and two blocks.

Denver: Carmelo Anthony struggled with foul trouble on Sunday, scoring just 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting with 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block in 30 minutes of action. He missed tying his lowest-scoring game of the season by just two points, but on the bright side his 12 rebounds were a season-high.

Dallas: Drew Gooden (back spasms) returned to action Sunday and scored 19 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and a block in 27 minutes of run on Sunday.
Gooden may have gotten some extra run after Erick Dampier (10 points, nine rebounds, 20 minutes) played 35 minutes in his absence Saturday.

2008-09 NBA Team Preview – Chicago Bulls
2008 Record: 33-49
Division Finish: 4th – Central
2008 Playoffs: Missed the playoffs

Head Coach: Vinny Del Negro
Season: Going into first season
Record At Chicago: First season
Career Record: First season

Offseason Acquisitions:
Signed Roger Powell, F – Signed from Italy

Offseason Losses:
Chris Duhon, G, 5.8 ppg., 4.0 apg. – Signed with New York Knicks
Shannon Brown, G, 5.4 ppg., 0.8 apg – Signed with Charlotte Bobcats

Offseason Transactions:
Re-signed guard Ben Gordon
Re-signed forward Loul Deng
Tendered offer to forward Demetris Nicholas

Rookies:
Derrick Rose, G, 14.5 ppg., 4.7 apg, Memphis

The Skinny:
After a dark period in the franchise’s history following the end of the Michael Jordan era, it appeared that the Chicago Bulls had found their way back to prominence. The Bulls had made three-straight appearances in the playoffs and were building themselves into a pretty good team. Then the bottom fell out last season.

General manager John Paxton had put together a pretty good core of players. He had a lot of young guys from good college programs that knew how to win. They added Ben Wallace to the fray to give them someone to sure up the middle. Two years ago the Bulls swept the Miami Heat in the first round and gave the Pistons a run for their money.

It is hard o say what the Bulls’ problem was last year. There were swirling rumors during the summer of 2007 that may have contributed to the bad start. Young star Luol Deng and Ben Gordon were offered contracts, but both turned them down and did not go into detail as to why. However, they re-signed during this offseason. Conventional wisdom says they would sign after a successful one, not a bad one. On the other hand, maybe they can ask for more money knowing that the Bulls need them. Hard to tell.

There was also hints at the team was trying to bring in a big time free agent. Among the names swirling were Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol and even Kobe Bryant. Garnett and Gasol did eventual get traded, but neither ended up in Chicago.
Whether it was all the uncertainty or just the fact that they were now one of the top teams in the league and people were gunning for them, Chicago got the 2007-08 season off to a bad start. They lost 10 of their first 12 and head coach Scott Skiles – who was so instrumental in their previous success – was given the boot.

Things never turned up for the Bulls during the 2007-08 season. Needing a change, they shipped three players, including Ben Wallace, off to Cleveland and Seattle. In exchange they got some good players in Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes. Gooden was the number three scorer on the team (14.0 points per game) and Hughes was fifth (12.0 ppg.)

Something that I think hurt the team was consistency. Between dumping the head coach and the big trade in February, there was a lot things that disrupted the team. If you are going to have a successful team they need to gel on the court and there was just too much turnover for that to happen.

A dozen players made the starting line up in almost 20 percent of the Bulls’ games last year. I’m no mathematician, but I can’t even begin to tell you how many different starting line-ups that could be. Only Kirk Hinrich (72 games) and Deng (59) played in over 50 percent of the contests. That is really no way to get a team to play together.

Not helping the Bulls consistency this year is that they have a new coach and when I say new I really mean new. Up until this season, Vinny Del Negro had coached as many NBA games as you or I. Chicago brought in some experienced people to assist Del Negro, but I am just not in favor of the hire.

I just do not get why they hired Del Negro. A guy like Mike D’Antoni, who had a lot of success in Phoenix, would have been a great choice. With the young talent Chicago has his run and gun system could have worked. Avery Johnson would have been another good choice.

I know professional coaches get recycled all the time, but if you did not want to go with a guy who had already been a head coach, get an up-and-coming assistant. The last time Del Negro was on the bench he was in uniform for the Suns. At least Skiles spent some time as an assistant before getting the Bulls’ job.

One of the benefits of being as bad as they were was that the Bulls got into the lottery and actually won the thing. With the number one selection they chose guard Derrick Rose from Memphis. He was a really good point guard that led the Tigers to the national championships game. Rose needs to give the Bulls’ offense a kick in the butt as they were only 18th in the league last year at 97.2 ppg., but again I attribute that to inconsistency.

Prediction:
Since very few teams play defense in the NBA, the Bulls really need to focus on their offense. They saw a significant drop across the board from their star players and that is something they need to address during the season. If the offense is clicking that could help them prevent a poor start like the one they had last year. With very little player movement this year they should have a chance to gel a little quicker and get the offense humming.

One thing that will be interesting this year is that someone is going to see their playing time get cut. With so many guys playing last year they will all want a piece of that starting role. The question is how does Del Negro balance that or is someone going to get shopped around.

In the backcourt you have four very good players in Rose, Hinrich, Hughes and Gordon. Then in the front court you have got Deng, Gooden and Tyrus Thomas plus Joakim Noah. That is eight layers and they all cannot obviously be on the court at the same time.

I think that Noah is the first odd-man out. I can see them going with Deng, Gooden and Thomas in the front court. I never been a fan of Noah, I think he is soft and a whiner, but beyond that he really has not produced in the pros. He was a good college player, who was surrounded by more good players.

The front court is going to be more of a mystery. Rose and Hinrick are going to be in a battle for the starting point guard spot. I can see Hinrick being the starter at the beginning of the year with Rose eventually taking over the duties. Right now Gordon has a big toe injury and is not at 100 percent. That will give Hughes more playing time for now, but when Gordon is healthy he should be the starter.

If for someone reason everyone is happy being in Chicago then the Bulls are going to have one of the deepest, however youngest, teams in the league. Hughes is the only player with double-digit experience and after that the oldest player is Gooden and he is only going into his six season.

However, this is era of free agency and most players are not willing to just sit around and be a reserve. To go along with that, there are plenty of teams that are low on talent that could use one of the Bulls’ reserves. If Rose is the future I see Hinrick asking to be traded even though he just signed a multi-year deal two years ago. Gordon could be gone as well. He only signed a one-year deal and he could probably command a lot on the open market.

The Bulls are a tough team to get a read on. They have a lot of young, stockpiled talent, but things are uncertain with a new head coach who has zero experience. I have concerns about their front court and that could be their undoing. I think they have the talent to make the playoffs, but I just don’t think it will happen this year with Del Negro on the bench. If this was a much more experienced team that could overcome coaching mistakes then I would be higher on them. On the other hand, I could see them knocking someone like Toronto out of the mix.