Don’t shoot the messenger, but Bleacher Report isn’t too crazy about the Chicago Bulls’ preferred starting five.
Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, and Nikola Vucevic will make up the 18th-best starting lineup in the Association next season, according to rankings Bleacher Report released Monday.
Of course, Ball’s health is one reason for the below-average projection. The other is the belief that the quintet who outscored opponents by double figures last season won’t be able to again mask the defensive deficiencies of DeRozan and Vucevic.
In the Eastern Conference, the Raptors, Heat, Hawks, Cavs, Bucks, Nets, Sixers, and Celtics all placed ahead of the Bulls.
Meanwhile, the defending champion Warriors are deemed to have the best starting lineup in basketball.
If it’s any consolation to Chicago Bulls fans, these rankings originate from the same platform that called DeRozan last summer’s worst offseason signing.
And, well, everybody makes mistakes.
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Man Bleacher report hates us…..LoL….who cares. I just hope this adds more fuel to the chip on the shoulder fire the team carried last year. We all know the top4 in the East are currently better than the Bulls (Celts, Bucks ,Heat, 76ers). None of them really did anything to take a step back. Atlanta made some nice moves in the off season and if they pan out they could be improved. Still it seems suspect ranking the Nets at all considering we have no idea who they will have on their roster on opening day and even with the current core two of their starters are head cases. Cavs are a nice young team with a lot of assets but no real stars or superstars. Vuch returning to his 3pt % norms and Ball and PAW stay healthy and this is a much different team than the one we saw down the stretch last year. Time will tell but someone at the top almost always backslides in the NBA….lets hope the Bulls keep moving forward. If PAW doesn’t make a big jump then Bulls in the same fix they were in last year which is they don’t really have a true PF which killed them with interior D and rebounding. They still are suspect on the interior but AD should help as he is no rim protector but is stout in the paint and with him and a healthy PAW they should get beat up a lot less in the paint. With health and player development I still believe this Bulls core can compete to win the East…..what this team needs is the second coming of Dennis Rodman. An athletic, D and Rebounding first PF with a nasty attitude would put them over the top…..who really fits that mold in today’s NBA?