The Chicago Bulls Are Clearly The Team To Beat In The Eastern Conference

Through the first month of the NBA season, we’ve learned one thing. The Chicago Bulls are clearly the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. Not Cleveland

Name a better TEAM in the Eastern Conference than the Chicago Bulls. Go ahead and form your lips to say the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors or Atlanta Hawks – I dare you.

The Cavs are a good team but they still are still LeBron James and Co.; if James were to go down with an injury, who will pick up his slack?

Kyrie Irving? He has proved that he cannot lead a team alone.

Kevin Love? Really? Why did you think he came to Cleveland in the first place? He could not get it done on his own in Minnesota.

As good as their roster is, they are still a bunch of players that have not had great wining success as individuals and has yet to fully show us what they can do as a TEAM as injuries have robbed us and them of that privilege. Not saying they can’t be a great team, but time on the floor as a unit is the only way they can get there.

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The Hawks let their most consistent player go this offseason in DeMarre Carroll and while they may not have missed a beat in the regular season, the playoffs is still where it matters most. Teams will buckle down on Al Horford and Paul Millsap like they did last season, and then what? You rely on Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver to take over? Like that worked well for them when the Brooklyn Nets and Cavs did it.

The Raptors have the talent to give the Bulls problems, but I don’t think they are mentally there yet. The center position is still up in the air as you cannot expect Jonas Valanciunas to be able to play that physical playoff basketball style an entire series. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan both have a tendency to go off script and do their own thing leaving the rest of the team to take pictures and either cheer or be disappointed at the outcome. A team no. Some good players? Yes.

Those are reasons why the Chicago Bulls are the top dawgs in the conference.

Derrick Rose is hurt. Okay, they have been down this road before without him. No problem. Just insert Kirk Hinrich or Aaron Brooks. The scoring may dip off a bit, but the ball distribution will be better.

Jimmy Butler has emerged as one of the best 2-guards in the league with his balance of scoring and defense and his backup Tony Snell has seen an increase in playing time due to injuries to key players that has his stock on the rise as well.

Mike Dunleavy is out with a back injury, but will be back soon to add his all-around skill set to the team. In his absence, Tony Snell and Doug McDermott have stepped in and have earned valuable experience that will only prove to be worthwhile when the playoffs come calling.

The frontcort is where the Chicago Bulls are diverse and will give the rest of the conference problems.

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Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, and Nikola Mirotic form one of the best, diverse frontcourts in the league with their defense, scoring, rebounding and all-out hustle. Put any other of the East so called power teams frontcourt up against the Bulls and see who wins.

Injuries have taken its toll on all teams, but the Bulls are the ones better equipped to deal with them. The Cavs are good and have a legit shot. The Hawks are good and have a shot. Same with the Raptors.

Just too bad neither team has a shot against the Chicago Bulls.