Chicago Bulls: Comparing this team to our last playoff team

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2016-17 Bulls are the champs.

In the end, if I had just one season to try to make the playoffs and could do it with either team, it looks like the 2016-17 Bulls would be my ticket to the 8th seed. Of course, I’ll have to revisit this once the season is over, as the stats will surely change by the end and the Bulls have been playing better as of late.

Obviously, we do not live in a vacuum, and there are other external factors to consider when asking ourselves if a team is “good” or not. Age, for instance, would be a factor here. The average age of this Chicago Bulls team is 24.2 years, whereas the average age for the 2016-17 team was 28.7 years, which leaves a lot more room for this current team to develop than that previous team.

Basketball also happens to be a team game, so players play better next to other players and their skill sets complement players that may not necessarily complement others.

The teams ranked similarly in points per game, 23rd in 2017 vs. 24th today, despite a massive discrepancy in pace. They were just 20th in the league in pace in 2017 and are 12th in the league in pace this season.

The biggest difference in the two teams was defense. The Bulls defense in 2016-17 was legit, ranking 6th in opponents points per game and defensive rating, while this team ranks 11th in opponents points per game and 10th in defensive rating. That’s still pretty good, but a top 5 (almost) defense versus a top 10(ish) defense, which one would you obviously take?

For fun, here would be my ideal roster from the two teams, not taking into account any of the previous slides, just what I think would be the best team to put out on the court.

Point Guard

Starter: Rajon Rondo

Backup: Sato

Shooting Guard

Starter: Zach LaVine

Backup: Dwyane Wade

Small Forward

Starter: Jimmy Butler

Backup: Otto Porter Jr.

Power Forward

Starter: Lauri Markannen

Backup: Taj Gibson

Center

Starter: Wendell Carter Jr.

Backup: Bobby Portis

6th Man

Coby White

What would your best lineup be with these rosters? Let me know in the comments!