"The gods have no mercy. That's why they're gods."

This one's for the Bulls, who lost three valuable bench guys for financial reasons (Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer and Omer Asik), softened the blow for their fans by bringing back Kirk Hinrich (they love that dude), and now are crossing their fingers that Derrick Rose — who's reportedly "ahead of schedule," giving him something in common with every single NBA player who ever rehabbed a torn ACL (has anyone ever been "on schedule" or "a smidge behind schedule"?) — can return to form in time for the 2013 playoffs even though that's a two-year recovery and we learn this over and over and over again. What a bummer. Right now, there's a steep drop from Miami to the next five Eastern playoff contenders (Boston, Chicago, New York, Brooklyn and Indiana). It's just a fact.