Previewing the 2016-17 Chicago Bulls

The great Bulls 2016-17 mystery season opens Thursday in the United Center against the Boston Celtics. Perhaps no season in franchise history since the 1966 expansion year has started with so many new players, and so many uncertain about the quality of the team.

That 1966 team, expected to be one of the worst ever in the league, proved a major surprise in making the playoffs, still the only expansion team ever to do so, and elevating coach Johnny Kerr to Coach of the Year honors. This season looks like a similar treasure map with clues and hints about the prize, but uncertainty about the direction.

“We still have a lot of room to grow, a lot of improvements to make,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg…