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Chicago Bulls might blow their roster up next offseason
Recent developments involving the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics have suddenly made the Eastern Conference a lot tougher. With Damian Lillard now a Buck and Jrue Holiday rocking the Celtics’ threads, the road to relevance for the Chicago Bulls has become a lot more difficult.
While other teams have reloaded their rosters, the Bulls stood pat, doubling down on a talented but underachieving roster that failed to make the NBA Playoffs last season. With these in mind, a report from Bleacher Report said it might not be long before the team’s front office decides to break this group up.
Low ceiling
The hierarchy in the Eastern Conference is clear-cut. All things considered, Milwaukee and Boston will battle for the top spots, while Philadelphia—with reigning MVP Joel Embiid—and Miami round out the top four. The rest will be a free-for-all between the likes of Chicago, Toronto, Atlanta, Cleveland, Brooklyn, and New York.
“The Bulls' ceiling might stretch as high as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed, but obviously we don't see them climbing that high,” Zach Buckley wrote.
“There are myriad factors driving that doubt but the simplest is the sheer depth of the Eastern Conference. The Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers could easily claim the top-four seeds, leaving the Bulls to contend with the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks—at the very least—for one of those two seeds,” Buckley added.
Diminishing returns
An appearance in the Play-In Tournament was not what the Bulls had in mind when they formed this squad. With a “Big 3” of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic, the team has enough firepower to make a run at the top of the Eastern Conference. But with the core struggling to mesh, it’s difficult to see them climbing that high. This may eventually trigger the Bulls to hit the button on that long-awaited rebuild.
“This numbers game could get the better of Chicago—a losing team since Ball's injury—and force it into a second consecutive play-in tournament appearance. At that point, how could this front office keep thinking this team is on the right track? Bow out of the play-in or even escape it and promptly get steamrolled in the first round, and Chicago could finally be ready for the reset so many already see as inevitable,” Buckley continued.
