Opening night small ball lineups, how to tank, more bad news from CHSN

It's finally the premiere!

Here's the latest Chicago Bulls news ahead of the team's season debut against the New Orleans Pelicans, including what to expect from some mega small-ball lineups and the latest from the Chicago Sports Network saga.

One of the benefits of DeMar DeRozan's departure to Sacramento is that Chicago will be able to shoot as many threes as it wants without getting bogged down in a half-yardage, mid-range iso offense.

Expect a lot of transition play and constant shots from distance.

And with only three players on the roster taller than 6-foot-1 (one of them is the hulking Nikola Vucevic), expect head coach Billy Donovan to experiment with some small lineups. Like really small.

Expect the 6-foot-2 Patrick Williams to play the five at times. Or Matas Buzelis, who is listed at 6 feet tall and a slim 195 pounds.

Jalen Smith is more of a fit for Chicago's new run-and-gun style, but he won't be grabbing double-digit rebounds any time soon.

A lineup of Josh Giddey (6-8), Zach LaVine (6-5), Dalen Terry (6-7), Julian Phillips (6-8) and Buzelis could lead teams off the floor and be super fun.

The Bulls owe their 2025 first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs as a permanent holdover from the DeRozan trade. The selection is protected by the top 10, meaning Chicago must finish with at least the sixth-worst record in the league to ensure it retains this selection.

It will be a big challenge The bad.

LaVine, Vucevic and Lonzo Ball (assuming they are healthy) are veteran players who will increase the Bulls' ceiling by default. Giddey, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu are talented enough to help win games.

That doesn't take into account the production Chicago receives from Buzelis, Smith, Terry, Phillips and others.

To put it simply: This team is too good to be too bad.

The Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons are expected to finish in the bottom six of the standings at the end of the season.

That leaves the Bulls trying to sneak under the Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Spurs to secure one of the remaining two spots.

It will take a combination of injuries, trades, disappointing individual seasons, and then more “injuries” at the end of the year for Chicago to make it.

Chicago sports fans are certainly familiar with the issues surrounding the Chicago Sports Network and its impact on the way you watch Bulls games this season, at least for now.

CHSN still hasn't reached an agreement with Comcast. YouTubeTV may never be an option. Hulu is out of the picture at the moment.

An app could be ready to launch… but apparently that won't be anytime soon. Not until the broadcaster reaches a deal with Comcast.

Comcast wants to add CHSN to its most expensive tier. CHSN wants to be in the same middle league as NBC Sports Chicago.

Neither side has backed down yet, meaning Bulls fans will only be able to watch games over wireless networks with a TV antenna unless they are DirectTV, U-Verse or Astound customers.

Keep checking back here for updates.