NBA: 2022-23 Eastern Conference pre-season playoff projections

2 of 10

Chicago Bulls DeMar DeRozan (Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports) /

East Play-In Teams

10. Atlanta Hawks

9. Chicago Bulls

The Eastern Conference is so deep that two teams that should probably make the playoffs any other year will have to play their way into the Play-In Tournament. And those two teams are the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls.

Despite the fact that these two teams have the talent to make the playoffs, they still have some big questions. Even after adding Dejounte Murray during the offseason, there are questions about how the Hawks will perform this season.

The same could be said about the Bulls who have some big questions surrounding Lonzo Ball heading into the start of the year. Though, if Ball does return sooner rather than later and looks like his old self, Chicago could surprise some teams.

At the same rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if both these teams missed the postseason entirely.