The Chicago Bulls insist they shouldn't be written off this season just because Derrick Rose is recovering from a torn ALC in his left knee.

Rose isn't expected back until early next year. The Bulls also lost a lot of their "bench mob" - the reserves that gave Chicago 1 of the deeper benches in the NBA and helped the team lock up the top seed in the Eastern Conference the past two years.

The Bulls have brought back veteran Kirk Hinrich to run the point. They traded Kyle Korver and lost Omer Asik, C.J. Watson and Ronnie Brewer in free agency. In their place are veterans such as Nate Robinson, Nazr Mohammed, Vladimir Radmanovic and Marco Belinelli.

The Bulls open the season at home on Oct. 31 against Sacramento.