The Chicago Bulls finished the 2020-21 NBA season with a 31-41 record. This marked the fourth consecutive year in which they failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Here’s a look at the top games Chicago Bulls fans should watch from the upcoming 2021-22 NBA season.
Given that fact, the Chicago Bulls’ front office has been very active during the offseason. They executed sign-and-trade deals for both Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan. The Bulls also acquired Alex Caruso, who has played a pivotal role off the bench for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Chicago also parted ways with Lauri Markkanen via a three-team trade with the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Needless to say, this Bulls roster will have a different look and feel compared to the group that took the floor last season.
With that being said, the Bulls are hoping that these moves will pay huge dividends. So without further delay here’s a small sample size of games that fans should keep a watchful eye on during the upcoming season.
3. Oct. 21, 2021 – Chicago Bulls host New Orleans Pelicans in home opener
As it was previously mentioned, the Bulls acquired Ball via a sign-and-trade deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. This could be viewed as somewhat of a strange decision, considering the season that Ball put together. He averaged a career-best 14.6 points per contest. Not only that, but he also posted career-highs in overall shooting percentage (41.8) and 3-point shooting (37.8 percent). Although Ball and the Bulls won’t make too much of this early-season matchup publicly, don’t be surprised if he has a solid outing against the team that opted not to retain his services.
2. Nov. 15, 2021 – Bulls face revamped Los Angeles Lakers
After winning it all in 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t do too well in defending their crown. In fact, they were bounced in the first round by the Phoenix Suns in six games. To be objective, there is no shame in bowing out to the team that went on to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. And just like the Bulls, the Lakers have been very active during the offseason.
They traded for Russell Westbrook. They acquired the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, and Trevor Ariza. Let’s also not forget about Rajon Rondo, who played an integral role in the team’s championship run in 2020. The flurry of moves didn’t make a great impression with ESPN as the network gave the team a “C” for their offseason. But despite having the oldest roster in the league, the front office is betting on the fact that they’ve surrounded LeBron James and Anthony Davis with a good complement of players to fuel another championship run.
1. Jan. 21, 2022 – Bulls at defending champion Milwaukee Bucks
Although these two teams play in the same division, more than half of the season will have gone by before these two teams face off against each other. As NBA fans recall, the Milwaukee Bucks had a memorable playoff run. They swept the Miami Heat – the team that eliminated them in the 2020 NBA playoffs. They followed that up with a 4-3 series win against the short-handed Brooklyn Nets. The Bucks went on to knock off the Atlantia Hawks in six games in the conference finals. They also defeated the Suns in six games despite losing the first two contests of that series.
This marked the team’s first title run since 1971. Sure, the other games mentioned on this list will make for good television viewing. However, this matchup will be the most interesting one because this will be an opportunity for the Bulls to see how they stack up against the team that won it all last season.
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