The Bulls season has been a mixed bag so far — a little freewheeling athleticism here, a few ugly games there — but by far the steadiest thing about it has been the play of Derrick Rose. If not for Vinny Del Negro’s utterly blank resume, Rose would have been the biggest Bulls wildcard coming into the season. How would he play? Would Del Negro let him take the reins? Is he the next Chris Paul? If I keep asking that, is it more likely to come true?

After a few games, we’re beginning to see the answer: Rose, though he might never reach Paul’s heights, is the best player the Bulls have drafted since, well … let’s not go there.

But like my dude on Reading Rainbow always said, don’t take my word for it. Basketball Prospectus has the two paragraphs that are sure to make any Bulls fan’s day:

The best player to use in comparison with Rose’s unique combination of size, speed, approach, skills and talent for his position is a small forward: one named LeBron James.

Like James, Rose is a more than capable scorer, particularly as a finisher in the lane. His dribble his high but forceful, he is continuously moving in straight attack lines, pushing the ball in transition after a rebound, and using his strength and body control to absorb contact and covert baskets despite the foul. LeBron is so unique–a point guard in a power forward’s body with a small forward’s athleticism–that it may be hard to see the resemblance between the ways he and Rose approach the game. However, if you watch long enough, you begin to see the similarity in cadence, in the way they play the game.

That does not mean we should project James’ success onto Rose. However, we can scale it down to see something similar. [...] In the long term, it looks unlikely from early returns that Rose will ever be a 20-point 10-assist guy, like Chris Paul. However, he could be a 25-point, eight-assist, six-rebound “Jason-Kidd-on-steroids” type of player, with multiple double-doubles as he continues to mature.

Comparisons to LeBron? “Jason Kidd on steroids?” It’s official: Basketball Prospectus is trying to get into my pants. And it’s totally working.