NBA power rankings — 15. Chicago Bulls
The Bulls had a great offseason. Let’s not get caught up in the minutiae of contract lengths and price points. Chicago’s aim is to built a competitive team around Zach LaVine, whose free agency is not far out. DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, and Lonzo Ball make a competitive core. The Bulls will win some games next year, and maybe even fight for home-court advantage. They’re a good basketball team.
That said, there are valid concerns about Chicago’s defense. Aside from Ball, who’s better as a team defender than an on-ball defender, the Bulls lack good perimeter defense. Vucevic, however steady in the post, will not really protect the rim either. Chicago will give up points and score them, but there’s too much talent to rule out a fun and successful season.
NBA power rankings — 14. Portland Trail Blazers
Portland has been the subject of intense criticism this offseason for simply running it back — and rightfully so. Damian Lillard probably doesn’t stay past the trade deadline unless Chauncey Billups is a truly elite head coach. That said, the Blazers were the six-seed in a cutthroat Western Conference last season. They’re a good basketball team.
Lillard is a top-10 player, and for as long as he’s on the team, Portland will remain competitive. The Blazers have a strong starting five around him, and if you ask GM Neil Olshey, the bench improved. We will see if that’s enough to keep Lillard on board (probably not), but it’s seems more and more likely that we’ll at least see Lillard in a Blazers uniform opening night.
NBA power rankings — 13. Boston Celtics.
The Celtics had a strange offseason, roughly swapping Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier for Al Horford, Josh Richardson, and Dennis Schroder. That probably qualifies as marginal improvement, and with COVID hopefully less prominent, it’s not unreasonable to expect stronger efforts from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in 2022.
Boston has the talent and the pedigree to make noise. Ime Udoka has been in line for a head coaching gig for quite some time now, and deservedly so. Given the abnormality of last season, it’s hard to hold too much against the Celtics. They are not a .500 basketball team. Expect a significant bump in the win category.