Bulls hope to create scary duo with Rose and Watson

Once LeBron James and Dwyane Wade decided to play together in Miami, the Bulls were forced to take a different approach during the NBA's free-agent frenzy in July. Instead of spending their remaining salary-cap room on one star player, they had to divide it among several good ones.

Perhaps the least known of that group is C.J. Watson, a 6-2 guard who played for the Golden State Warriors the last three seasons.
Technically, the Bulls signed Watson, 26, to be the backup for point guard Derrick Rose, but they're hoping Watson sees more time than the few minutes Rose spends on the bench during games.

Rose and Watson can play together -- with Rose shifting to shooting guard -- to form a super-quick backcourt that could wreak havoc at both ends of the court.

''We'll get the ball up the court pretty fast,'' Watson said Friday. ''If me or [Rose] gets the rebound, we can get up in transition pretty well, get to the basket and find other people. It's going to be interesting to see how we play together. I don't think it'll be frustration or anything like that.''

New coach Tom Thibodeau said that during his last two seasons with the Boston Celtics, they worried about Rose coming off screens when he shifted over to shooting guard while playing with Kirk Hinrich. Playing ith Watson will allow Rose to do more running off screens without the ball.

Watson and Rose have yet to play together during training camp because they've gone head-to-head in scrimmages, but Rose is impressed with Watson's game.

''He definitely can score,'' Rose said. ''He's a real grinder [on defense]. He likes getting in passing lanes, won't back down from anything and plays with a lot of confidence. When he's out there, he really runs the offense. When I'm out, I know he can run the team.''