2013-14 NBA Season Predictions: 5 Reasons Why the Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose Will Reclaim The NBA Summit

While we are not completely impartial, we have five reasons why we feel the Chicago Bulls will surpass all this season for the NBA Championship, and Derrick Rose will take NBA MVP honors:

1.  A year without Rose and other player injuries may have been the lesson the coaching staff needed.

Could being more rested decrease the chances and severity of injuries and make the difference against an older team like the Miami Heat come playoff time? 

Last season was one of overachievement for a Chicago Bulls squad that had significant problems fielding a consistent line-up all season long due to injuries, including the loss of Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich for the season ending series with the Miami Heat.

And while Tom Thibodeau's Chicago Bulls will always be the hardest working team on the court, they have never been the more rested team. After having been together for these last three years or longer, the core of Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah should have their practice routines down. It should come down to a better plan for getting rest and game-day execution.

So, hopefully the past year has informed the coaching staff of the value of working in rest, because these Chicago Bulls, should home court advantage elude them, are not afraid of playing the Miami Heat in Miami, and rest may be the edge they need over a geriatric Miami Heat team.

2.  Luol Deng is in a contract year.

Luol Deng is in the final year of his contract, and at 28 years old, his next contract may be his last big deal.

Luol Deng will be in the final year of his contract this season (which will pay him $14.3M this season), and although most players seem to put up their best numbers in their contract years, it is hard to see how Deng can play any harder than he has every season under Thibodeau.

Despite knowing that Deng is a team guy who plays with maximum effort, it is hard to deny that there is the additional incentive for the 28 year old Deng to earn a lucrative new contract (probably his last long term, major contract for his career). Will this give him extra motivation to propel the Bulls to the championship?

3.  Jimmy Butler has earned the starting SG spot.

Any other Chicago Bulls fans have this poster hanging on their wall? 

For the humble, hard-working third year man from Tomball, Texas, earning the starting nod at shooting guard has got to feel like a dream to Jimmy Butler. But not long after perfectionist, 2011 NBA Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeau made the decision, Butler was back to his off-season regimen, also finding the time to work out with returning backcourt-mate, Derrick Rose.

A great series against the Miami Heat, guarding Lebron James, showed us just how talented Butler is, and it will be a revelation to see what he can do with consistent minutes playing next to the former MVP, Rose. Expect more posters like the one that has Jimmy Butler immortalizing one Chris Bosh in an awkward position.

Jimmy Butler is a Thibodeau-guy through and through; he is a player that values hard-work and believes that practice makes for on-court perfection. So he is in the gym working on his game, only stopping to give interviews where he states that it is the Chicago Bulls responsibility to stop the Miami Heat from three-peating this season (a feat last achieved by the 1996-1997-1998 Chicago Bulls lead by Michael Jordan).

"Jimmy Buckets" knows the Bulls fans of the blue collar city of Chicago: that we can't stand the Miami Heat, that we can't stand the Lebron James "comparisons" to Michael Jordan (can you say, watered-down, special superstar-rules league?), and we can't stand another ill-gotten Miami Heat championship. So shortly after that interview, Butler was elected mayor of the city... just kidding! But Chicago loves this kid!

4.  The window is almost closed.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the window, on this particular Chicago Bulls core group, is almost closed. While Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Jimmy Butler are basically untouchable, as we saw earlier in the summer in trade rumors speculating a deal for the Portland Trailblazer's Lamarcus Aldridge, Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer seem to be the key starters that may be rotated out if this season does not result in a NBA Finals appearance, at least.

Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer, while being very efficient players that are producers in Thibodeau's system, would seem to be the casualties if there is another failure to overcome the Miami Heat in the playoffs. It would most likely come as a result of Luol Deng's expiring contract and amnestying Carlos Boozer's contract, which would clear enough cap space for a 2014 max contract free agent.

Many on the list of potential free agents in 2014 are familiar names from the "Summer of Lebron", as Lebron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh all have Early Termination Option clauses in their contracts with Miami. Two interesting targets are Carmelo Anthony and Rudy Gay, but that is a conversation for a later date.

The point is that, if progress is not made this season against the Miami Heat, big changes seem to be looming in the core roster, and hopefully, that is enough for these guys to make that extra rebound and extra play it takes to prove that this team deserves to stay intact.

5.  Derrick Rose is confident that he is the best player in the NBA.

The last time DRose set his goal as becoming MVP, he surpassed Lebron for the honor. Now, he has stated that he is the best player in the NBA. Lebron watch out.

Finally, the single most important reason the Chicago Bulls can and will climb to the summit of the NBA is that Derrick Rose is confident in his belief that he is the best player in the NBA.

It is not just the reports that Rose has honed his jumpshot when he could not do anything else during rehab. And it is not just the reports that others have said that he looks good in practices.

Rose is not a boastful personality who says anything to get on ESPN. Rose backs up his words with season's long effort of carrying the Chicago Bulls on his back.

So for him to come out so forcefully saying that HE is the best player in the NBA amounts to him saying to the other 29 NBA teams:  "I'm back, and I know that my knee is healed 100%."

That is a scary thought coming from the youngest NBA MVP ever.


What are your thoughts about the Chicago Bulls and their chances of winning the NBA Championship this season? Will they topple Miami? Why or Why not? 
Tell us in the comments below!