Defense Is Needed To Win Championships

Last year’s Bucks team ranked 6th in offensive rating and 10th in defensive rating, the 2019-20 Lakers ranked 11th and 3rd respectively, the 2018-19 Raptors ranked 5th and 5th respectively and the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors ranked 3rd and 11th respectively.

The one thing all four of these teams have in common besides being great offensive teams was that they were also some of the better defensive teams in the league. Oh yeah, and they all won titles! 

Winning a title is definitely something Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls envision doing, but expectations need to be a little bit lower for this team heading into the 2021-22 season. This franchise has missed the playoffs for four consecutive years now and just making the playoffs at this rate would be a big accomplishment. 

If they can finish inside the Top-10 in both offense and defense, then they could definitely be a threat to reach the Eastern Conference Semifinals or further, but it is definitely going to be hard to make an argument that this Bulls team could take down the Bucks or Nets in a 7-game playoff series. 

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We can expect big things from the Chicago Bulls on offense given tier star-power, but it is going to be very interesting to see if this team can put thins together defensively. Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic can be liabilities sometimes on this end of the floor and if they do not come together to play great team defense, then the Bulls will be a fake threat in the Eastern Conference. 

Every team in the league has the ability to score nowadays, but what separates championship-level teams from the rest of the pack is their impact on defense. Chicago has the potential, but will they finally be able to execute on both ends of the floor?