Bulls training camp starts today, will they have any goals besides good conditioning?

Today is media day for the Chicago Bulls, the opening to their 2019 training camp. NBC Sports Chicago is streaming footage live this afternoon.

This will include words from head coach Jim Boylen, which is always interesting, plus likely comments from one or all of GarPaxDorf.

I’m with The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry in hoping the messaging this year is a lot better than last year’s feckless nothingness:

For the Bulls, it’s time. Chicago no longer can cower from such conversation. Two seasons of futility should force the Bulls to raise their expectations, while welcoming whatever scrutiny comes with publicly proclaiming the postseason as the objective.

Paxson, head coach Jim Boylen and every Bulls player need to start thinking bigger and striving for better. And no one should be shy in stating as much.

...

Maybe a return to the postseason is another season away. But when the season kicks off Monday, the Bulls shouldn’t be afraid to set actual goals.

As for the players in camp, we know that Chandler Hutchison will be unavailable after an injury during summer workouts. And the Sun-Times’s Joe Cowley is reporting - though no one can be sure with his ‘style’ - that Denzel Valentine “isn’t expected to be ready for full basketball activity this week”.

Remember, last training camp Lauri Marrkanen got hurt and it provided cover for an entirely terrible season where no lessons were learned or culpability was assessed. Oddly, KC Johnson had a whole discussion with Lauri and there were multiple references to the latter’s biceps but none about the fatigue-related heart scare (or whatever it was, we don’t know) that ended last season.

So if that’s all avoided this year it’ll be an improvement! But I fear coach push-ups may make this a more injury-filled camp than even typical. That’ll be something to watch for sure, and more entertainingly - though that mileage varies - something to listen to.