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Over the next few weeks, we'll take a closer look at each player on the Bulls roster and see where they fit in for the future.

Rip Hamilton

Position: Shooting guard. Age: 34. 2011-12 salary: $5,000,000.

Season recap: Injuries marred Hamilton's first season with the Bulls. First, a groin injury during the first week of the season kept him out of the lineup for about two months. Then a shoulder injury in the first week of March put him out for another month. Hamilton responded well at certain points during the postseason, but coach Tom Thibodeau seemed hesitant to use him during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers until Game 6.

Season highlight: After a very frustrating season, Hamilton actually played one of his best games in Game 1 against the Sixers. He was 6-for-7 from the field, scored 19 points, dished out four assists and looked good alongside Derrick Rose. Of course, everything changed when Rose went down with a torn left ACL late in the game and Hamilton never looked as good for the rest of the series.

Season lowlight: The 38 games Hamilton missed due to injury. When Hamilton actually played, he usually looked fine on the floor, but he just could not stay healthy. When he returned late in the season, Thibodeau was very cautious with his minutes and never wanted to push him, even though he was one of the best remaining scoring options for the Bulls.

Notes: Hamilton was brought in to be the missing piece to the Bulls' championship puzzle but he just couldn't stay on the floor. He wanted to be out there and he wanted to produce, his body just wouldn't allow it. Obviously, it would have been interesting to see how Hamilton would have performed if Rose had stayed healthy, but that's not the way things worked out. Hamilton looked very old as the season progressed and increasingly became a target of Bulls' fans frustrations.

Quotes: "With me, it's not all about scoring," Hamilton said in January. "There's so many great players on this team. My job is to try and make everybody's job easy. If it's scoring, if it's passing, or whatever, that's what I try to do."

What's next?: Hamilton is a very proud man and will undoubtedly work hard to get in better shape for next season, but at almost 35 years old and likely playing without Rose and Luol Deng for a big chunk of next year, how effective can he be? Even if he does stay healthy, which seems to be a major stretch at this point, Bulls' management has to be wondering the same thing.

FINAL GRADES: Regular Season: D. Postseason: C.

Over the next few weeks, we'll take a closer look at each player on the Bulls roster and see where they fit in for the future.

John Lucas III

Position: Point guard. Age: 29. 2011-12 salary: $947,000

Season recap: Lucas went from a guy who rarely dressed for games in the beginning of the season to a guy who logged major playoff minutes after Derrick Rose went down with a knee injury. He was one of the few Bulls who had absolutely no fear offensively when he was on the floor. Sometimes that was a positive for coach Tom Thibodeau, most times it made Thibodeau more frustrated.

Season highlight: Playing without Rose (groin), Lucas stepped up and scored 24 points in 27 minutes in a March 14 showdown against the Miami Heat. He was 9-for-12 from the field and hit several big shots down the stretch. Lucas had a handful of solid games throughout the season, but it was this game that gave Thibodeau the confidence to keep using him in big moments for the rest of the year.

Season lowlight: Games 3-5 against the Sixers. Lucas struggled to get the Bulls into an offense while he was on the floor. He was just 8-for-23 from the field and had five turnovers.

Notes: Lucas became one of the most well-liked players in the locker room because of his work ethic and the way he handled the season as a whole. Whether he played or not, he always kept the same positive attitude. Like many of his teammates. Lucas was visibly shaken when Rose went down. He was almost in tears after Game 1 before anyone knew the severity of the injury.

Quotes: "We love him," Bulls forward Luol Deng said of Lucas in March. "He's older than us, but just a great guy. We all love him and we want to see him do well. He's always on the bench cheering everyone on and working hard. When it's his turn, we've got to make sure we let him know that we appreciate it."

What's next?: Lucas has to wait and see whether the Bulls will offer him a contract for next season. Given the uncertain status of Rose and the fact that the Bulls still must decide on C.J. Watson's option, Lucas could be a cheaper alternative as a backup depending upon whether another team gives him an offer or not. Lucas will continue to work on his game all summer and wait for another opportunity to show off his game. He proved this season that he has the ability to stick around the league.

FINAL GRADES: Regular Season: B-. Postseason: C.

Over the next few weeks, we'll take a closer look at each player on the Bulls roster and see where they fit in for the future.

Omer Asik

Position: Center | Age: 25 | 2011-12 salary: $1,857,000

Season recap: After such a promising rookie year in the NBA last season, Asik took a step backwards in his progression. He is still a very solid defender, but his offensive game stalled. He struggled to catch the ball in the post and make much of an impact. The Bulls relied on his defensive presence, but they could not go to him as much as Tom Thibodeau would have liked because of his struggles on the offensive end.

Season highlight: Asik's highlight and lowlight of the season probably came in the same game. The highlight was his performance for the first 47:52 of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Starting in place of Joakim Noah, who was out with an ankle injury, Asik scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and played 39 minutes. He was completely exhausted by the end of the game, but he played his heart out.

Season lowlight: Asik struggled to contribute at various points throughout the season, but the final eight seconds of Game 6 will haunt him throughout the summer. He stepped to the line with a chance to give the Bulls a three-point lead and missed both free throws. After Andre Iguodala grabbed the rebound and raced up the floor, Asik raced back but ended up fouling him with 2.2 seconds left. Iguodala ended up making both free throws -- ending the game, and the Bulls' season, in the process.

Notes: The Bulls still believe Asik has a lot of room to grow in his game. The coaches work with him all the time on catching the ball, he just struggles to take what he's learned in practice to the games. Asik is one of the best defenders on the Bulls and is going to be even better, but if he can't improve offensively it won't make much a difference. The good news for the Bulls is that Asik remains durable. He played in every game this season.

Quotes: "I think Omer played a great game," Noah said after Game 6. "I feel like he's someone who works really, really hard and he's my teammate. I hate to see any of my teammates down. When one of us is we're all down. We win together and we lose together. It's all of us."

What's next?: Asik is in the middle of one of the most pressing questions of the Bulls' offseason. Should the organization pay whatever it takes to sign him to an extension? As a restricted free agent, another team can sign Asik to an offer sheet and the Bulls will have a right to match. They want to bring Omer back, but at what price? If the price is too steep and the Bulls decide they don't want to go too deep into the luxury tax, they may decide to let him walk. If they do, the Bulls then get into an even bigger quandary, given the only center on the roster will be Noah.

FINAL GRADES: Regular Season: C-. Postseason: C-.

ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell takes your Bulls questions during a live chat at 1:30 p.m. CT Friday. Click here to submit your questions.

Over the next few weeks, we'll take a closer look at each player on the Bulls roster and see where they fit in for the future.

C.J. Watson

Position: Point guard | Age: 28 | 2011-12 salary: $3,400,000

Season recap: Watson played well at times, but his year was marred by a constant stream of injuries that started in the first week of the season. He sustained a dislocated left elbow on Jan. 1, a concussion in February, a sprained ankle in March and other various ailments throughout. After the season he had a procedure on both feet to alleviate pain from plantar fasciitis. The veteran guard was consistently praised by coach Tom Thibodeau for the toughness he showed, but his play suffered towards the end of the season. After grinding his way through a productive year, Watson struggled badly in the playoffs in place of an injured Derrick Rose.

Season highlight: Even with an active Rose in place, it was Watson who helped deliver the Bulls one of their most impressive wins of the season on April 12 against the Miami Heat when he scored 16 points and hit several huge shots down the stretch. Thibodeau decided to bench Rose in the fourth quarter and overtime and rode Watson's hot hand to victory.

Season lowlight: The playoffs. After Rose went down in Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers with a torn ACL in his left knee, Watson went just 13-for-54 from the field in the last five games of the series, struggling to find any kind of offensive consistency.

Notes: Watson deserves a large amount of credit for the way he continually played through injuries and tried to stay in the lineup while Rose battled a laundry list of his own injuries. But when the Bulls needed Watson to step up the most he just couldn't find his shot. Watson earned continuous praise from his teammates, but his postseason performance left a lot to be desired, even if he was dealing with something as painful as plantar fasciitis in the end.

Quotes: "I think C.J.'s a warrior," Bulls center Joakim Noah said in March. "He's somebody who's still playing injured, but we need him to play. For him to come back like that just shows the sacrifice he's making for the team. Not playing for five, six games, coming back against Miami; throwing him in the fire and stepping up for us, controlling the game. Point guard is not an easy position to play and Speakington, as we call him, he was huge."

What's next?: Watson will begin to rehab his body from the wear and tear it took during the lockout-shortened season. He will likely begin training back in Las Vegas, his hometown, later this summer. The question for Watson and the Bulls becomes: Will the team pick up his $3.7 million option for next season? With Rose likely sidelined for at least the first 2-3 months of next season, he may be one of the best options the Bulls have for the price. Especially given that it's very unlikely Steve Nash will be coming to Chicago.

FINAL GRADES -- Regular Season: B-. Postseason: D.

Over the next few weeks, we'll take a closer look at each player on the Bulls roster and see where they fit in for the future.

Joakim Noah

Position: Center | Age: 27 | 2011-12 salary: $10 million

Season recap: Noah's season was full of ups and downs. At the beginning of the year, he struggled to find his form playing alongside Carlos Boozer and admitted that the pressure of playing under his new $60 million contract was getting to him at times. He looked frustrated on the floor and seemed hesitant to knock down his "tornado" jump shot after dealing with injuries throughout last season. By February, Noah looked more comfortable on the floor and much more confident finding his own offense. He really hit his groove in the last two weeks of the regular season and into the playoffs before going down because of badly sprained ankle in Game 3 of the 76ers series. The good news for Noah and the Bulls was that after missing a combined 62 games over the past two seasons, he missed just two regular season games this year.

Season highlight: Noah's best all-around game came Feb. 22 against the Milwaukee Bucks when he had 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. His play in the postseason was inspired, and he gave the Bulls everything he had, averaging almost 14 points and 10 rebounds a game before his ankle injury.

Season lowlight: Noah's struggles in the early part of the season were jarring, especially given how well he had played at the beginning of last season. But his lowlight came during Game 3 of their first-round series against the 76ers. Late in the third quarter, Noah raced down the floor on a fast break and ended up rolling his left foot on Sixers guard Andre Iguodala's foot. Noah returned to the game, but the image of him limping up and down the floor before being taken out is something that will stick with Bulls fans all summer. He didn’t see the floor again despite trying to warm up and play before Game 6.

Notes: Tom Thibodeau noted something during the season that any Bulls fan has known for years: The Bulls' players take plenty of cues from Noah. When he plays with energy, the rest of the team usually does as well. When he doesn't, his teammates look flat, especially early in games. "He's got to be ready from the start," Thibodeau said after an April 8 loss to the New York Knicks. "He's got to bring energy. When you're an energy player, you've got to bring it every game. He's shown that when he plays with great energy he's terrific and when he's playing with great energy, we're playing with great energy. But it wasn't only him, it was our entire team."

Quotable: "I think the unfortunate part of this year is that we don't know … we didn't measure up against the teams that we wanted to measure up against. But I think that, I personally believe that this group could compete against anybody. We had tough breaks throughout the year and that's unfortunate but it's also part of the game. You learn from being injured, you learn from the hard times that will make the good times even better." -- Noah, last Friday after his exit interview with Bulls' executives.

What's next?: Noah is going to play for Team France in the Olympics this summer and will be headed over to Europe soon to begin training. It's an experience he has been looking forward to for years, but he understands he has to do his best to stay healthy. He made note of his continued ankle problems after his exit interview last week. "I've got to strengthen my ankles," he said. "Too many ankle injuries throughout the years. I've got to strengthen up my ankles." Noah will continue to work out with his trainer Alex Perris throughout the summer and understands he will have to take on an even bigger role on both ends of the court with Derrick Rose and possibly Luol Deng out at the beginning of next season.

FINAL GRADES -- Regular season: B- | Postseason: A

CHICAGO -- Luol Deng has stated repeatedly that he will 'definitely' be playing for Team Great Britain during this summer’s London Olympics despite the fact that he has a torn ligament in his left wrist. But before he makes a final decision about his future, Bulls GM Gar Forman and coach Tom Thibodeau want to sit down and discuss all the options with him.

"We're going to sit down with Luol some time in the next week," Forman said Tuesday afternoon. "Obviously, the season ended, and we've had Derrick (Rose) and his (knee surgery) over the weekend. Our biggest concern for Luol -- and I know the Bulls' fans concern and Luol's concern -- is his health. We haven't had a chance to sit down with him at length, but we will in the next week and go from there."

Forman, Thibodeau and Deng have held out hope that Deng still may not require surgery. If he does, and he remains committed to the Olympics, he would be out three to four months, likely keeping him out for the first two months of next season. Bulls team physician Dr. Brian Cole said Tuesday that Rose would likely be out between eight to 12 months while recovering from surgery to fix a torn left ACL he suffered during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Deng, who suffered his wrist injury on Jan. 21 and decided to play through the season, remained passionate about his decision to play in the Olympics after the Sixers ended the Bulls' season last week.

"I’ve got to see how my wrist feels right now, going into the Olympics, and then right after the Olympics," Deng said after Game 6. "I’ll make the decision, whether if my wrist is good enough I don’t need the surgery, or if I’ll need it. I haven’t really ruled out not getting the surgery or getting it. I just haven’t made that decision. I just know I’ve got the Olympics ahead of me. Since I was a kid growing up, it's something I always wanted an opportunity to be part of. the fact that it’s in my hometown that I grew up in a country that gave me opportunity to even be here, I’m looking forward to it."

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ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell discusses what to expect from the Bulls this offseason.

PHILADELPHIA -- Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, who has sat out the past two games with a sprained ankle, will be a game-time decision, and forward Taj Gibson says he will play against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6 on Thursday night.

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CHICAGO -- Carlos Boozer always believed the Chicago Bulls would be headed back to Philadelphia on Thursday night -- even when things were at their bleakest.

As the rest of his teammates filed out of the locker room on Sunday afternoon after Game 4, Boozer peeled some money out of his pocket to give to the visiting locker room attendants.

"Just so you (guys) know," he said. "We will be back."

At the time, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the young men laughed in his face. After losing Derrick Rose (torn ACL) and Joakim Noah (sprained ankle) in the span of a week, the Bulls looked emotionally broken as they left Philadelphia down 3-1. Boozer never lost faith in himself, though. He was always convinced that he could have a solid Game 5 and help push the series back to Philadelphia.

It turns out he was right.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah shot free throws without a brace on his sprained left ankle at shootaround and is a game-time decision for Game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- As Rip Hamilton struggled to free himself from the horde surrounding him in the corner of the Berto Center Monday afternoon, a reporter asked him if he ever thought it would come down to this. Did the 34-year-old who signed with the Chicago Bulls to win a championship ever think that he would be heading into Game 5 of the first round on the verge of elimination?

"I didn't think a whole lot of stuff would happen," the veteran guard said as he strided away.

In one fell swoop, Hamilton may have encapsulated his season, and that of the Bulls, better than anyone.

Hamilton thought he had been brought to Chicago to serve as the missing piece to a championship puzzle. Alongside Derrick Rose, he was supposed help push the Bulls to their seventh championship. Now, as the Bulls get set for Game 5 Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, Hamilton found himself answering questions about wanting to be on the floor late. He only played 27 seconds in the fourth quarter in Game 4, as Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau stuck with Kyle Korver down the stretch.

"Whatever they need me to do, I'm going to do," Hamilton responded in part, deftly pushing the question aside.

In truth, it's killing the veteran that he isn't on the floor late. In the span of just nine days, he's gone from a guy who scored 19 points in Game 1 alongside Rose to a guy who is just 11-for-34 from the field and is now playing without Rose (torn ACL) and Joakim Noah (sprained ankle). It's been a whirlwind of bad luck for the Bulls and Hamilton admits that he would like to be out there to help more if given the chance on Tuesday.

"You do [want to be out there]," Hamilton said. "But it is what it is. Like I said before when I came here, whatever they need me to do, I'm going to do. My job is -- if I'm not on the court in the fourth quarter -- is to cheer for the next guy because I know the next guy would do the same thing for me. It's just one of them things where you got to stay in tune with the game."

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PHILADELPHIA -- Carlos Boozer tried his best to ignore the fact that his Chicago Bulls went to the free throw line 17 fewer times than the Philadelphia 76ers in Sunday afternoon’s 89-82 Game 4 loss, but he couldn't help himself when the topic came up.

"It's crazy," Boozer said of the 31-14 disparity. "I thought we were driving. I thought Luol [Deng] was driving almost every time he got the ball. He was getting contact on a lot of his shots. I thought C.J. [Watson] was driving the ball. There was one play at the end of the game [when] he got hit right in the face. I saw the whole play and he didn't get that call."

But then Boozer channeled his inner Tom Thibodeau. As much he would like to blame the officials for the fact that his team is now down 3-1 in its Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, he knows better.

"Listen, we're not going to sit here and blame the referees for our loss," Boozer said. "It was our fault we lost the game. We gave up 25 points in the fourth quarter. There were too many points in the fourth quarter. We didn't lose the game because of the refs, but the discrepancy was huge. And I thought we were being pretty aggressive, we got in the penalty early, but we didn't get as many free throws as they did. That's tough, but at the same time that's not why we lost. We lost because we didn't contain their guards in the fourth quarter."

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PHILADELPHIA -- Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has never wavered in the confidence he's shown towards his team. His coaching mantra is, "We have more than enough to win with."

He said it again on Saturday afternoon just seconds after all but admitting that Joakim Noah wasn't going to play in Game 4. Thibodeau's philosophy is that no matter who steps on the floor, the Bulls can win. It goes beyond talent for the veteran coach. He believes that if he puts his team in the right position and the players follow his direction, they will find their way.

But at some point, no matter how well a team executes an offense or runs plays, talent must win out. Clutch players have to make tough shots in big situations and the Bulls found out the hard way during the fourth quarter in Game 3 that without Derrick Rose, and to a much lesser extent Noah, the Bulls have a team full of guys who are still learning how to come through with the game on the line.

The Bulls shot just 6-for-25 in the final 12 minutes and looked inept at times down the stretch. It wasn't so much that a 14-point lead evaporated, it was how it happened so quickly. The Bulls ran down the floor on certain sets and appeared to have no idea what they wanted to do. Whether it was John Lucas III dribbling around with no particular purpose or Kyle Korver missing the open looks that he did get, the Bulls had no rhythm to their game. Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer, two key offensive weapons the Bulls needed to step up in place of Rose, finished the quarter a combined 1-for-7, with Deng's only shot coming in the final seconds.

As Thibodeau watched the tape on Saturday, it's hard to believe he didn't get sick to his stomach.

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ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell takes your Bulls questions from Philadelphia before they take on the 76ers in Game 3 Friday night. Click here to submit your questions.