Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Hornets: 3 Takeaways from Monday’s Game

3. Fred Hoiberg appeared to show his regular season rotation … or did he?

For most of the night, it appeared that Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg was running out a look of his regular season rotation.

The Bulls started the night with Rajon Rondo, Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez on the floor.

Next: Bulls vs. Hornets: Instant analysis from 108-104 loss

Seven guys came off the bench, which makes 12 guys that saw action on Monday night. Now, Doug McDermott isn’t going to play 37 minutes (like, ever), but it appears the starting five is locked in and those that saw minutes on Monday are those that will have minutes once the real games begin.

Denzel Valentine is hurt at the moment, but once he’s good to go, he’ll likely take the spot of Jerian Grant. Despite hitting a game-tying triple to force overtime that no one wanted, Grant has struggled in the preseason and could be in line for a spot with the Windy City Bulls to start things out, which could also mean Spencer Dinwiddie is D-League-bound to make room for Michael Carter-Williams.

There’s no telling how much time Nikola Mirotic will miss thanks to a lower back strain suffered on Monday night, but with the way he’s played in the preseason, his minute count shouldn’t be all that high, despite the spacing concerns for the Bulls. You could say the same with Bobby Portis, too.

Another tricky part is getting minutes for rookie Paul Zipser, who has looked solid in his limited preseason action.

The starting unit with Rondo, Wade, Butler, Gibson and Lopez feels like a stone-cold lock, but there’s a ton of guys that could see minutes to start the season out next week.

Who those guys are remains to truly be seen with another new guard addition and a couple injuries affecting the full rotation for the Bulls.