Taj Gibson Hints Chicago Bulls Could Have Best Bench in NBA

Chicago Bulls reserve forward Taj Gibson praised the team’s second unit so much so, that his group might actually wind up being the deepest unit in the NBA.

We all know the story of the Chicago Bulls’ offseason. The team had its best offseason in recent memory, adding a lot of depth to its already playoff-caliber roster. Grabbing Pau Gasol while cutting ties with Carlos Boozer was quite the upgrade at the four. Bringing over Nikola Mirotic, finally, and moving up to draft a guy like Doug McDermott will prove to give Chicago two exciting rookies in the mix. Then, of course, Chicago also signed free agent guard Aaron Brooks in order to provide some more scoring off the bench.

This team has shaped up to be an excellent roster that will absolutely compete with the elite squads around the league. But, the overlooked part of this offseason, to me, has been the construction of the team’s bench. How good can this Chicago Bulls bench be? Well, Chicago Tribune writer K.C. Johnson had something pretty intriguing to say via Twitter on Monday.

Before anybody jumps to the conclusion that this is a negative thing, let me remind you that the starters do have a couple of giant tasks at hand, chemistry-wise: The return of one of the most dynamic players in the game, Derrick Rose, and the addition of an extremely versatile big man in Pau Gasol. Despite the chemistry that is in the making, Rose, Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Gasol and Joakim Noah make for a potent starting five, no doubt. There’s no reason to believe the starters aren’t going to be at their best.

What Gibson’s words hint at, though, is that this Chicago Bulls team could very well boast the deepest team in all of basketball. If you look at their bench, they’ve got a well-rounded group.

Mirotic is a former Euro-League MVP who can score from absolutely anywhere on the floor. McDermott enters his rookie year as the reigning National College Player of the Year. Gibson, himself, is consistently in talks for 6th Man of the Year and continues to be one of the league’s elite defenders in the paint.

Kirk Hinrich is a savvy veteran who is an underrated perimeter defender and knows this Bulls roster and organization well. Brooks knows what it’s like to be a starting point guard in this league and can create his own shot — something the Bulls have really lacked in recent years. And, lastly, second year pro Tony Snell is developing into yet another solid defensive player for Chicago who has also improved his shot quite a bit over the offseason.

To top it off, these guys all have one of the best coaches in the business in Tom Thibodeau. All Thibs has done since joining the Chicago Bulls in 2010 is prove that he can win with less. The guys on the bench will play a much bigger role than they might think. If anybody goes down with an injury — God forbid — Thibodeau has the type of effect on the next man up that really empowers the player to get the job done.

As Chicago goes deeper into the season and into the playoffs, this bench will propel them into the Eastern Conference Finals and, in my opinion, to the 2015 NBA Finals. In the Eastern Conference, there is no other team with as much depth, top to bottom, as the Chicago Bulls — hands down. Plenty of teams are deep at a couple of positions, but there are none who are as deep as the Bulls are at every single position.

So, was it startling to hear Gibson say that his second unit has been beating the starters “every day” in practice? Yes, of course, it was shocking, to say the least. But, when you take a deeper look at the context, fans should be the exact opposite of worried. In fact, they should be as excited as they ever have about a season since the Michael Jordan era. This is by far the most talented team the Chicago Bulls have boasted in quite some time and, if all goes according to plan, that bench of theirs will help bring home a seventh banner to the United Center.

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