Six championship titles between 1991 and 1998,  first team in the league to win 70 regular season games, and six Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards shared between the legendary Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose. It sickens fans that these outstanding records are no longer heralded because of the Chicago Bulls’ lackadaisical performance in recent years.

Even worse,  the Bulls missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2008, after a low-key Indiana Pacers team decided their fate when they dragged down the Brooklyn Nets. But this was during the rookie season of Head Coach Fred Hoiberg after the team decided to sack his predecessor Tom Thibodeau, who won 65% of his regular season games.

Now, the Bulls are trying another chemistry since they were successful in luring over Chicagoan Dwyane Wade from the sunny city of Miami and Rajon Rondo from Dallas. The team also made a big decision when they traded their most prolific player, Rose, and the quiet ring holder Justin Holiday for one of the worst centers in the league, Robin Lopez, experienced guard Jose Calderon and Notre Dame Alum Jerian Grant. The Bulls also waived their second round pick in the 2017 draft to the Knicks.

This team has reshaped from a new head coach that gave them one of their worst nightmares to a new caliber of players that will take maybe the first 15 games to get adjusted to each other. Last season, the Bulls attributed their poor quality of basketball under the lights at the United Center to a great start from smaller teams that were just unstoppable. Then they picked up their chemistry at mid-season and were closer to clinching a playoff spot after they shockingly defeated the Cavaliers.

This season again, the Eastern Conference will be a big surprise, although I consider the Cavaliers and Raptors to be the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks will be a force to reckon with since Dwight Howard is back to his Orlando Magic defense. The Celtics have that playoffs feeling already and will be a better scoring team with Al Horford’s offensive thirst. The Bucks have young, energetic players like Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo who can pair off well on the court. And watch out for Carmelo Anthony’s New York Knicks, which the Bulls  helped get better in that  silly Rose trade.

If they don’t play well and start a winning streak from game one versus the Celtics, their 2016-17 season will be a replica of last season. Last year’s weaker teams will definitely perform better this year. But the other side of the coin here is, playing in the Eastern Conference, there is always a window of opportunity. Teams are unstable, unpredictable and can flop in succession at any point.

Rondo and Wade won’t be a perfect backcourt pairing; both players are used to having total control on the court. The Celtics team was built around Rondo during a stint with them, and he attempted to behave the same way in Dallas, while Wade was the face of Miami after the departure of LeBron James. Now, I clearly don’t see a possibility that either of them will change their ball pattern, yielding to rotations, and releasing the ball as soon as possible. On the other hand, they have Jimmy Butler who is eager to hold the ball and has shown he is incapable of performing with another ball dominant player, evident by his poor scoring when Rose was available.

A player must let go his ego right now, even if it means sitting on the bench to create the best starting five. Although Wade said the organization belongs to Butler, as that “used to authority” player, he will have a desire to change the play at any given point and would unintentionally sideline his man Jimmy. Kyrie Irving yielded to James when he took over the helm of leadership on the court with the Cavaliers, but is Butler willing to yield to Wade or vice versa?

Another concern is the team’s roster reflects the organization’s jealous look of a team that broke their 70 games regular season wins, the Golden State Warriors. I personally feel the Bulls want to make people feel they are ready with big names in the starting five. But again, the Warriors are a team that was built with young and dedicated talents, not big names.

The organization should’ve focused on a younger and talented roster mixed with a few vets, which is the simple reason why the Warriors will be one of the best teams for the next five seasons. What will happen if the Rondo-Wade pairing fails would be a team back to square one. Both players are getting ready for retirement. As a Chicagoan, I want to root for a sustainable club and not a fluctuating one.

Watch the completed roster again, we have 10 players who can play as a point guard, and about four are mature enough to get into the starting five. Is the storage of guards in any way an attempt to get the long-rumored Demarcus Cousins trade ready? Shockingly, none of them can shoot the ball well from the three.

The game has evolved to a point where guards must shoot a decent percentage from downtown. That is the very reason why Damian Lillard, Steph Curry, and Irving are the three top guards in the league.  Since Kyle Korver left the Bulls in 2012, no Bulls player has been able to make a fair amount of baskets from the three line.

Rookie Denzel Valentine and Kevin McHale-trained Isaiah Canaan can make the three, but they haven’t been tested on the bigger stage and are ineligible for a starting point guard role.

Valentine, the former Michigan State man performed well during the summer league and made some clutch baskets from downtown, but Coach Hoiberg is still that young coach who will never think about placing a rookie in his starting five. Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns are examples that a rookie can put up a stellar performance during his freshman year. Canaan is a great shooter who will definitely play under 6 minutes since he has lost his basketball acumen since he left Houston.

But if the depth on a team’s roster is something we associate the Warriors 2015 triumph with, the Bulls have a depth that injury blows won’t affect.

I predict the Bulls to finish anywhere in the least four of the playoffs teams. If they are lucky to clinch any spot there, experience from Wade will definitely help them to cause some upset to bigger teams in the top four.