Hear me out on this Bulls idea

It seems to me that 95+ % of people have bought this narrative that the Bulls have no chance to even compete in the East, yet alone make a run at banner #7.   I will freely admit I entertained this belief as well on more than one occasion.
 
Then I asked myself why?  
 
First ...it has to be stated as FACT that the Bulls last year were DESTROYED with injuries.  Rose broke his face in the preseason and it clearly affected him the first 6-7 weeks or so.  Joakim Noah missed 53 games.  Jimmy Butler missed 15.  Mike Dunleavy never seemed to get healthy and Taj Gibson was seemingly banged up the whole year.
 
You add these injuries to an ALREADY FLAWED roster...if Pau Gasol and Niko Mirotic are your best bigs, it's going to be open layup lines for the opposing team and if Tony Snell/Aaron Brooks are relied upon for your bench...yikes....I'm surprised they finished 42-40
 
As funny as it is to say that St. Tom Thibodeau would have fixed this mess, keep in mind the 2014/2015 Bulls won only 3 more games!!!  With much better health!
 
 
Here is what the Bulls have as an already built in nucleus:
 
Jimmy Butler -  Top 3 SG in the league who can average 22 ppg while playing elite defense)
 
Derrick Rose -  A lightning quick PG who averaged 22/6 for 7 weeks and mirrors prime Tony Parker
 
Doug McDermott  -  An improving wing player who shot 42% (!!!) from 3 in just his second season
 
Bobby Portis  -  6'11 high energy big who can also shoot 3's...has a good chance at being the steal of the 2015 draft
 
Niko Mirotic  -  Solid stretch 4
 
 
 
Assuming Noah and Gasol leave....the Bulls could easily afford 2-3 impact free agents along the likes of Harrison Barnes, Ian Mahinmi, Kent Bazemore.
 
 
PG -  Rose
SG -  Butler
SF  -  Barnes
PF -  Mirotic 
C  -  Mahinmi
 
BN  -  Bazemore
BN  -  Gibson
BN  -  McDermott
BN  -  Portis
BN  -  14th pick in draft?

.... and?
 
 
that team is still not contending for the east

Why not?  Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose alone are more star power than 95% of Eastern conference teams.

that team is hardly any better

I'll double my Bears bet with you to include that the Bulls aren't contenders as well

Why are you assuming Rose can play a full season?

Rose is washed

The only thing you got going for you is that the East is literally wide open, should anything happen to the Cavs and/or LeBron's impact declines significantly.