It’s a little more than a month until the NBA regular season starts, and the preseason is rapidly approaching. And boy, this next season could be rough for Chicago.

Luol Deng is coming back from a near life-threatening reaction to a spinal tap, a reaction that caused him to lose 15 pounds due to the loss of fluids.

He may have been the league leader in minutes last season, and he is possibly the best wing defender in the league, (with the exception of San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard); a spinal tap is something that may be difficult to come back from.

Joakim Noah will be back in the middle, but for how long? He has spent much of the last few seasons injured, and he is constantly plagued by plantar fascistis.

The rise of Jimmy Butler will be a bright spot for Bulls fans, though, and this could keep people interested.

And Carlos Boozer will be back, whether Bulls fans want him to be or not. (He’s not that bad; 16 points/9 boards per game is very serviceable) .

Key signee Mike Dunleavy will help on offense, but his defense is not what it used to be, as father time seemed to be catching up with him last year in Milwaukee, (although, putting up with Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings chucking 50 shots a game might have just left him unmotivated).

However, hopefully he can be a bit of a throwback to what he was in Indiana three years ago, when he was a solid bench scorer and defender.

Of course, the loss of Nate Robinson and Marco Bellinelli will hurt. They were key pieces in making Bulls fans forget about… well, apparently they did their job. I completely forgot to mention the most important part of this next season.

Derrick Rose will be suiting up in the preseason, and he will be there this season. No more watching him sit the sidelines in a suit, no more media garbage about how he should be out there.

The youngest MVP in the league’s history will finally be back. And don’t talk to me how his injuries will change him. He’s not Tracy McGrady, he’s not Grant Hill, and he certainly isn’t Shawn Kemp.

He was putting work in the whole time he was sitting out, improving his jumpshot, and other aspects of his game that aren’t based completely on athleticism.

He will come back fully healed, and this time, he has a legitimate backup, a super-athletic two guard who can score (last time he had that, Ben Gordon was angering Celtics fans everywhere), and an unproven-but-sharpshooting Tony Snell on the bench, who could be a rotting corpse and still be an upgrade over Daequon Cook.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not guaranteeing a title for Chicago this year. I still doubt they can get past Miami. But this will be yet another amazing season to be a Bulls fan.