Ranking Chicago Bulls’ potential playoff opponents for first round matchup
1. Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls have a complicated history dating back to Jan. 2022. The Bulls’ season was turned upside down after Grayson Allen snatched Alex Caruso out of the air on a dunk attempt, putting him on the sideline (with the Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams) with a broken wrist.
With the three wing defenders not available, Chicago went on a downward spiral that featured their defense dropping from 10th in the NBA to 24th, and the team only won five games in the month of March.
The Bucks are 3-0 against the Bulls and are looking to complete the sweep in the final stretch of the season. Milwaukee has a generational superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo and the second tallest role unit in the NBA (only trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers).
The Bulls, like much of the NBA, don’t have anyone who can check Antetokounmpo. Without Ball, they don’t have enough capable defenders to properly stop Jrue Holiday and Kris Middleton while trying to manage Antetokounmpo.
Above all, the Bucks have the length to bother DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.
The on-court deficiencies matched with the emotions tied to the Jan. incident make the Bucks a team Chicago should want no part of in the playoffs — let alone the first round.
