Chicago Bulls: After quick 4-0 start, the Bulls will finally be tested

The Chicago Bulls will be tested thoroughly over the next few weeks. 

For the first time in 25 years, the Chicago Bulls are 4-0 and are sitting alone atop the Eastern Conference standings. The new-look Bulls are off to a quick start and they look quite promising as some of the other contenders in the East look underwhelming.

After an offseason in which the Bulls added Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, and Alex Caruso, among others, it was important for this team to come out of the gate strong. And they did exactly that, also while taking advantage of a weak schedule.

Through the first four games, the Bulls have beaten the Detroit Pistons (twice), New Orleans Pelicans, and Toronto Raptors. Combined, those three teams have a 2-9 on the season.

To say that the new-look Bulls haven’t been tested would be a massive understatement. They’ve taken advantage of a soft-opening schedule and that’s exactly what they should be doing. However, there’s a chance that this early, feel-good honeymoon won’t last long.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the Bulls will be tested. Chicago has 13-straight games against playoff teams from last season.

Here’s how their schedule stacks up over the next few weeks:

• vs. New York
• vs. Utah
• @ Boston
• @ Philadelphia 
• vs. Philadelphia
• vs. Brooklyn
• vs. Dallas 
• @ Golden State
• @ LAC
• @ LAL
• @ Portland 
• @ Denver 
• vs. New York 

Suffice to say, we’re going to find out a lot about just how good this Bulls team is. One encouraging sign that perhaps is something that could point to continued success for Chicago moving forward is the fact that they’re a top 10 defensive team thus far.

While Chicago hasn’t been seamless on the offensive end (though they’re not terrible, ranked 13th in the league), it’s their defense that has helped them race off to the best start in franchise history in a quarter-century.

Considering the team starts DeRozan, LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic – three players that have been criticized one time or another for their ineffectiveness on the defensive end of the floor – is quite impressive.

Again, it’s an extremely small sample size and it should be noted that the Bulls have played teams that rank in the bottom six offensively. Still, as the saying goes, you can only play the teams that are on your schedule. And that’s exactly what the Bulls have done. And beaten them.

Soon, though, we’re going to get a much larger sample size of who this Bulls team really is. Through about 20 games or a quarter into the season, we should have a stronger sense of how good this team can be.

It won’t come without being tested. After a successful offseason, the early returns on the Bulls are exceptional. What will the returns over the next few weeks reap? We shall see.