Coming out of the Eastern Conference was viewed before the regular season as a relatively easy task, as there were only two teams that were considered “elite” at the time. One of those teams was the star-studded Cleveland Cavaliers led by the big three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
The other team was the Chicago Bulls, who certainly had plenty of question marks including the health of star point guard Derrick Rose, but were still considered by many to be the favorites because of their experience, toughness and defensive excellence.
Preseason, that was it as far as true challengers to come out of the conference. The Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards were viewed as threats with respect, but still not good enough overall to compete with Cleveland and Chicago. Even the Indiana Pacers were in the discussion until forward Paul George sustained a season-ending injury.
Now at close to the halfway mark of the year, things have changed considerably in the East.
Cleveland is no longer being looked at as the same powerhouse that many believed, but they still have the pieces in place to make a huge run, especially with the new additions of Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith.
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Toronto and Washington are proving that they are no joke and will be fighting till the end. And, oh by the way, the Atlanta Hawks have emerged as potentially the best and most complete unit in the entire NBA.
And yes, the Bulls are still the same kind of two-way force they were picked to be before the start of the season.
Teams like the Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets are also set to make things interesting with their excellent play of late, especially Detroit, a team that has been on an absolute tear ever since the release of Josh Smith.
With so many teams improving and looking to make a push, are the Bulls really still the favorites to represent the conference in the championship?
Well, to start off, their offense has been much improved this season because of the addition of three key weapons. Even though Rose has been with the team his entire career, the Bulls have still been without him for two years and are learning how to readjust with him while he’s on the floor, so for all intents and purposes, I am putting him in the newcomers group for now.
The other two playmakers, Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, have given the Bulls depth in the frontcourt and new options to run the offense through on different areas of the floor.
Gasol has been a beast in the low post, giving the Bulls a versatile scoring option capable of posting up and playing with his back to the basket or stepping out and hitting the mid-range shot, even hitting a three-point shot or two at times.
Mirotic has been a brilliant find for out on the wing, as his size and length can create a huge mismatch for when he is playing at the small forward position. Mirotic has the skills of a big man along with the outside stroke and athleticism of a perimeter player, making him a real nightmare sometimes for teams to game plan around.
Along with the new additions, Jimmy Butler has emerged this season, and has really given Chicago a reliable two-way player to build around.
With the offense firing on all cylinders, the defense has also been up to coach Tom Thibodeau’s standards for the most part, something that is a much bigger part of their identity than anything they do on offense.
The question still remains though: is all of this enough for the Bulls to run the table and come out of the Eastern Conference alive? Well, that remains to be seen.
The Cavaliers, Raptors and Wizards have enough star power to compete with anyone while the Hawks may have the most complete and sound unit of anyone in the conference, including Chicago. Atlanta is no joke, and that team is really going to start giving some people even more problems than they are right now as long as ball movement remains the No. 1 priority.
The good news for Bulls fans is that this team is still deep and talented enough to compete with anyone on any given night. So hope shouldn’t be given up for this team, as their chances of making it to the NBA Finals are still relatively high, especially if Rose can continue to make progress and fix his poor shooting issues.
However, right now the conference remains wide open. There is no team in the East right now that can definitively say that they can beat everyone in a playoff series and win the title tomorrow. Teams like that don’t grow on trees, unless you live in the western part of the United States, in which case you would be used to seeing basketball dominance on a nightly basis.
East Coast fans aren’t always that lucky every night.
With Atlanta emerging and everyone else standing pat as competitors who won’t back down, the Bulls can’t be the number one favorite to go compete for a championship in the East right now. These next two months are going to be important in determining what kind of identity a team should and will have, and it will be crucial to keep the Bulls in mind when regarding this concept.
There are still a lot of games to be played in order to see who comes out of the Eastern Conference, but the Bulls will never go away as one of the favorites this season, as they are just too talented and deep to not be competitive until the end.
This team has all the makings of a championship group. The Bulls are for real, and even though there may not be some outright favorite, the Bulls will be there until the end, no matter what happens to this franchise, and that’s what matters most.