CHICAGO -- The magic number for Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau this season appears to be nine.
That would be nine players as the ideal number in his rotation. While plenty of decisions are yet to be made, Thibodeau acknowledged after Wednesday's practice that nine is the number he feels most comfortable with in a rotation.
"Usually most teams are around nine," he said. "And then as the playoffs get closer you're going to pare that down some more. We'll see. My first two years we played nine, sometimes 10. Ten is hard, most likely nine."
Having depth is a problem every coach loves to have. After struggling to fill out a consistent rotation in the past couple seasons, Bulls general manager Gar Forman and executive vice president John Paxson did a good job of filling Thibodeau's roster with better players this season.
In the midst of giving an update on Joakim Noah's health, Thibodeau offered a glimpse into how he chooses his rotation.
"I think any preseason you want your whole team to get some minutes," Thibodeau said. "And then the last couple preseason games you narrow it down to your rotation that you'll start the season with. And I think it's important, sometimes you have tough decisions to make. Are you going with a nine-man rotation? Are you going with an eight-man rotation? I think the important thing is to decide on that. You try to play too many then nobody plays well. So get your rotation. I think we'll have a really solid bench. I'm looking forward to that. But over the course of the season you need everybody; things happen, and when your time comes just be ready.
"I think for the most part our guys have done that. We've had guys change roles a lot in the last two years. Guys go from being bench guys to starting. Guys who are out of the rotation being in the rotation, coming off the bench. Even some guys that probably weren't in the league that had a chance to perform for us. The first part of that is understanding what you should do -- knowing what your job is and then having the ability to go out there and do your job so that the team can function well when you're on the floor. It's really about the team. We're asking everyone to make sacrifices and to put winning first."
Those sentiments are part of any championship-caliber team, but the reality for the players is that with a roster that is 12-deep on paper, some talented players will be left on the bench. The locks for the rotation right now are Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich.
That leaves rookies Doug McDermott, Nikola Mirotic, second-year swingman Tony Snell and veterans Aaron Brooks and Nazr Mohammed fighting for the last two spots. The early returns on both rookies have been good and injuries will surely change how much each player sees the floor during the season, but it will be interesting to see how Thibodeau manages all the minutes in the beginning of the season.
Noah may have summed up the attitude Thibodeau wants all of his players to have while discussing how much his role may change this season.
"Time will tell," Noah said. "Whatever it takes, man. I don't care. It's not about me. It's about this team. And I've always had that mentality, and my mentality's not going to change."