With the NBA season only a couple weeks away, there are plenty of potential headlines worth noting.

Does Shaq have another season in him, and if so, can he help the Heat repeat? How good will Amare Stoudemire be after his injury, and can he help the Suns win it all with their high-powered offense? What is King James going to do next?

But the most exciting prospect is the return of the Chicago Bulls as championship contenders. There hasn’t been this much buzz around the Bulls since a certain No. 23 wore a Bulls uniform. The reason – the new Bulls acquisition: a defensive stalwart who is built like a rock and sports the most fashionable hair since the Worm roamed the United Center floor.

You wouldn’t think someone who’s averaged 6.6 points per game in his career would generate talk of a championship; but Ben Wallace provides a dominant presence in the middle that the Bulls haven’t had since Artis Gilmore in the early 1980s.

What Big Ben lacks in points, he more than makes up for in defense. Wallace is averaging almost 13 rebounds and almost 3 blocks per game since becoming a starting center for the Detroit Pistons six years ago.

But there is more to Big Ben’s game than just numbers. All you have to do is watch a replay from last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. The 350-pound behemoth known as Shaq went up for a dunk and was actually blocked. Most NBA players would have cowered in fear and let Shaq posterize them, but Big Ben met Shaq in mid-air. He didn’t just block the ball, he bent Shaq’s arm back and threw the ball in Shaq’s face.

Not only does that one play show Wallace’s immense strength, but it also shows the intimidation factor that he brings; opposing players will have to think twice before driving down the lane against the Bulls.

The Bulls have led the league in defensive field goal percentage for the last two years, and they do it with great pressure on the ball and outright hustle. What makes the feat more amazing is that they didn’t have any decent defensive big men on the inside to take away the paint. Now, with Wallace on the prowl, the Bulls defense should be downright suffocating.

Wallace also provides the veteran leadership presence the Bulls are lacking on a team full of youngsters, and he also knows what it takes to win a championship from his Piston days. The team, which is coming off two straight playoff appearances also added power forward P.J. Brown and exciting rookies Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha, thanks to clever moves by GM John Paxson.

Paxson should win executive of the year for his rebuilding of the Bulls into a championship contender. He was left with a mess after former GM Jerry Krause had put all his faith in two seven footers – Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler – who never lived up to their potential. Paxson also got rid of me-first players like Jalen Rose and Jamal Crawford and replaced them with blue-collar players such as Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni.

He also engineered one of the great steals in NBA history in trading Curry for two first-round draft picks from the Knicks, one of which turned into Thomas, while next year’s pick will likely be another lottery pick.

He unloaded Chandler’s hefty contract to New Orleans for Brown, a veteran who is solid defensively and will mesh perfectly into head coach Scott Skiles’ no nonsense, all-effort playing style.

The only question mark the Bulls have is their offense. They need to find another option other than shooting guard Ben Gordon, who tends to disappear in some games. Nocioni excelled in the playoffs last year, averaging 22.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Another year of experience in the NBA could see the former Spanish League MVP develop into an All-Star.

Small forward Luol Deng, who would now be a college senior had he stayed at Duke, also has the potential to be a star. If these two can provide consistent offense, and Thomas and Sefolosha can contribute off the bench, this team will be set for a deep run in the playoffs, and Bulls fans might finally be able to forget MJ. Well at least for a little bit.

Majesh Abraham is a junior In LAS. He can be reached at [email protected].