Riley Dulin - Sports Editor
With the NBA season now in full swing, several storylines come to mind. The Warriors dropped their first two games of the season, a surprising start given the star power of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. The Timberwolves are off to a hot start, 3-0 through three games and beating the overhyped Brooklyn Nets by a point, despite a 50-point effort by Kyrie Irving. While the NBA is riddled with interesting narratives and surprises, one question I am wondering is: what kind of team will the Chicago Bulls be this year?
The Bulls are coming off of a disappointing season last year, where they finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. They will, however, have a much more talented team this year with the drafting of Coby White, and the continued development of Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen. Markkanen has already shown signs of improvement: scoring 35 points and grabbing 17 rebounds in a tough loss to the Hornets. Given the sheer amount of talent and potential on this team, I would be shocked if they did not finish anywhere from 6-8 in the weak Eastern Conference. Even if the Bulls make the playoffs with a high seed, it would still be very exciting to see a Chicago team back in the postseason. After all, who could forget the excitement in 2017 when the Bulls, led by Jimmy Butler and a washed up Dwayne Wade, took the first two games against the Boston Celtics as an 8-seed? A playoff berth this year is all the fans of Chicago need to know that this team is headed in the right direction.
Griff Morrill - News Editor
As the 2019-2020 NBA season has kicked off, a brand new landscape of teams and player schemes present a new rebirth of a previously dry and uneventful league.
With an eventful offseason, many teams have made significant adjustments to make the run towards the NBA Finals. Most notably, superstars Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis have moved to new cities. With these new moves, I believe the NBA has returned to being a more balanced league. In the West, the Los Angeles Clippers will be a major contender for a Finals championship. Having added Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers have skill on both ends of the floor. In the East, there are two teams that I believe will compete for the Eastern Conference Title. Starting with the Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant have joined sides in the iconic New York borough to hopefully bring success to the concrete jungle. In the cheese territory of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Bucks have and will continue to dominate the East this season.
Being the home state team, The Chicago Bulls are another team to take interest in this season. The Bulls have an opportunity to take advantage of young talent and build upon a team that can possibly lead the East in seasons to come. Having drafted rookie guard Coby White, this talented guard joins the very athletic Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen, who can quite possibly lead the Bulls down a path of growth and success.
Liam Meyer - Contributing Writer
As an exciting NBA season approaches, it is time to assess the east and western conferences.
Two teams at the center of the offseason were the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. With the Lakers receiving Anthony Davis, they remain an obvious contender to win the Western Conference. However, with the Clippers acquiring Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, they also stand out as a strong competitor. With that being said, I think the Lakers will most likely regain their title as the best team in the city of LA. With other exciting teams in the west like the Warriors and Rockets, I believe most of the playoff games will go to six or even seven games.
My prediction for the Eastern Conference is that the Milwaukee Bucks will beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference finals, then beat the Lakers in a possible seven-game series. I think that with Giannis Antetokounmpo as the returning MVP, with key additions as Robin Lopez, Kyle Korver, and Wesley Matthews, they could be just as dominant as last season. The 76ers with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are also a very strong competitor, but I don’t think they can match the shooting and defense of the Bucks. Two other exciting teams are the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics. With Kyrie Irving leaving the Celtics for the Nets, he will provide a solid addition to the team with Kevin Durant to possibly return this season. With the Celtics adding Kemba Walker to fill in the point guard spot, I think they will also be a contender to go deep in the playoffs.