1. You need to have one of the best 3-5 players in the game. This isn't an absolute - the Pistons have won 3 of the last 23 NBA titles without it. But 80-90% of the time, you need that.
Do the Bulls have it? YES.
2. Your second best player should probably be in the top 10-15 players in the NBA. This helps, but it's not as mandatory as #1. None of the three Pistons championship teams had it. Nor did either of the Rockets championship teams. You can argue about whether the Spurs championship teams did - was the Admiral still at that level? Were Ginobili and Parker there? Shaq was probably there when he won it in Miami, and Kobe was clearly there when he won three with Shaq in LA. Scottie Pippen, Pau Gasol... definitely. But plenty of teams have had two of the top 15 or so and not won anything - Stockton/Malone, Barkley/KJ, Shaq/Penny, Melo/Iverson... you'll be able to add Melo/Stoudemire to that list this year.
Do the Bulls have it? NO.
3. Four starters who are in the top 5-10 players in the NBA at their position.
This may be the most absolute. You can have your one pure role player in the starting lineup, your Derek Fisher, your John Paxson, your Udonis Haslem, your Bruce Bowen. But you need four guys who are better than the guy they're facing on most nights, and aren't a major matchup disadvantage against anyone. You won't find a single NBA Championship team in the last 25 years that doesn't have this.
Do the Bulls have it? Rose, Deng, Boozer, Noah... YES.
4. You need to be a very good defensive team. Over the last 25 years, the average defensive rank of the NBA Champions has been #7 in the league - which, frankly, is lower than I would have expected. There have been only one or two outliers, teams that have managed to win an NBA title without being in the top half of the league, defensively, and most have been in the top ten. (Looking at you, Carmelophiles...)
Do the Bulls have it? Um... yeah.
5. You need to own your home court - be close to unbeatable there.
Do the Bulls have it? 31-4 says YES.
Now we get into the more subjective, qualitative stuff.
6. You need a coach/player partnership. The relationship between a coach and his players is different in the NBA than anywhere else in pro sports. A coach is not so much the "boss" in a managerial/executive sense, because he's lower paid than his top subordinates. An NBA coach is more of a consultant who, like a consultant in any field, is fungible, well paid but not as well paid as the top guys in the organization, brings a particular expertise to the table, and can only do his work if he achieves buy-in from the team leadership.
Do the Bulls have it? Unquestionably. The degree of buy-in Thibodeau has gained from not only Rose but from Deng and Noah has set the tone for everyone to pull in the same direction.
7. Your top player or players need to set the tone in terms of work ethic and professionalism. If your "alpha dog" doesnt put in the work on defense, the work in the weight room, the work in the gym during the offseason, the work in practice (yes, we're talkin' about PRACTICE)... no one else will. A coach can't demand this nearly as effectively as a team's best player can. Michael Jordan competed in practice like it was a game, and if you couldn't bring it like that every day, you couldn't play on his team.
Do the Bulls have it? YES. Watching the way Derrick Rose has worked on his game this offseason, he has led the way on how things will be done on his team.
8. You need to have 8 or 9 players in a rotation who not only know their roles, but are comfortable in those roles and enthusiastic about playing them. Robert Horry made a career out of being that 5th or 6th guy who would defend and make a big jump shot. John Paxson and Derek Fisher made a living doing nothing but knocking down shots off ball rotation, never looking to create anything. Ron Harper reinvented himself as a defensive player after a career as a volume shooter. You can't have anyone concerned with "getting theirs" - the only guys who play have to be concerned with winning above all else, and know what they can contribute in order to effect that. This is a special mix that you rarely see anywhere BUT a championship team.
Do the Bulls have it? You betcha.
9. An X factor. A little bit of fairy dust. Some magic. An impossible to define but easy to identify "it" factor.
It's sure starting to look that way, isn't it?
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