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Nobody expected the Chicago Bulls to start the season the way they have. Despite several important players on the squad being injured, they're the Eastern Conference's second seed.
It's tough to say they're one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, but it's also absurd to say they don't have a chance to win an NBA title.
Teams with dominant interior players and plenty of size will have a lot of success against the Bulls. Given how bad Nikola Vucevic has been at defending the rim, their greatest concern will definitely be stopping exceptional big men like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.
The Bulls chose not to make any moves at the NBA trade deadline, and while this may not have been the smartest decision, you have to give them credit for trusting in what they have and not wanting to upset the chemistry in Chicago. They did choose to sign Tristan Thompson on the buyout market, and although he may not be the answer to their interior defense problems, he does provide a large body and will undoubtedly aid in slowing down elite big men.
Let's take a look at the three teams who might provide the greatest trouble in the playoffs for this Bulls team.
Winning an NBA title is never easy. As we have seen with the past 20 champions, every team is going to need something significant to go their way. Whether that is an unfortunate injury to someone, or having guys on the roster step up more than they ever have. There is a reason why winning a championship is so hard, and a reason why we have seen crazy upsets in the past. If a team is going to win a title, they’re going to need everyone on their roster to be playing the best basketball they possibly can, and even sometimes that isn’t enough to get the job done. Matchups are always something that is going to play a major factor, and some teams just know how to get the job done against certain teams when it matters most.
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The top playoff threats to the Bulls, ranked
3. Cavaliers
Do the Cleveland Cavaliers have what it takes to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, or Philadelphia 76ers? Probably not, but they'll make life difficult for every team they face.
There's no doubting that if teams have the option of playing someone else in the first round, they'd much rather face someone other than the Cleveland Cavaliers. Because they have a lot of length across their roster, the Cavs do a terrific job of making it difficult for opposing teams on both sides of the ball.
This isn't necessarily a poor matchup for the Chicago Bulls since, despite their size and length, Cleveland lacks a player who can dominate the inside like some other Eastern Conference teams. The fact is that if they go with a big lineup, there will be several mismatches for this Bulls squad all over the court, which might backfire.
The Cleveland Cavaliers aren't a team that should scare the Chicago Bulls, but they'll surely make it difficult for them, and it's a team that they probably won't want to meet until later in the playoffs.
2. Sixers
The Philadelphia 76ers might be the Chicago Bulls' worst opponent. It will be impossible for them to make Joel Embiid's life difficult in any way, and this will be a huge concern.
There's no way to stop players like Joel Embiid, but other Eastern Conference teams have defenders who might at least make it difficult for him. At the very least, you must be able to wear him out and make him exhausted in the fourth quarter so that he doesn't have complete control of the game.
The Bulls will have a major problem with this because, as we witnessed when they faced them a few weeks ago, Joel Embiid got all he wanted. Nikola Vucevic truly didn't have a response for him, and that's something they will have to deal with. They could use Vucevic and Tristan Thompson to form a double team against him, but even that is unlikely to be enough to stop him.
1. Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are comparable to the Philadelphia Sixers in terms of teams that the Chicago Bulls will not want to play, but they're likely even less of a team that this Bulls squad will want to face given that they have won a championship and know precisely what it takes to succeed in the playoffs.
Nobody on this Bulls team has a chance to slow down Giannis Antetokounmpo, and when you add in Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton on the guard side of the ball, Milwaukee becomes a very difficult matchup for the Bulls.
Although Chicago has some decent guard defenders, the fact is that their two best players, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, are not particularly outstanding defenders. Milwaukee will be quite confident if Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday are able to attack against those two.
