While talking Chicago Bulls’ roster changes for the upcoming season, Shaquille O’Neal reveals why he thinks Zach LaVine and co won’t be lifting the NBA Championship at the end of the 2021-2022 season.
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Over the last couple of years, the Chicago Bulls have been a lottery team at best. Even though the Bulls organisation is one of the best dynasties in league history, they are yet to reach the NBA Finals in 23 years.
In recent history, the Bulls franchise hasn’t even advanced to the postseason since the 2016-2017 season. However, the Chicago front office has been working to change that narrative this offseason. Providing help to Zach LaVine was their topmost priority entering the 2021 Free Agency. And in a few exciting deals, the organisation managed to add incredible guards Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan on the roster.
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With the LaVine, DeRozan, Ball trio, alongside the versatile big man Nikola Vucevic, the Chicago Bulls are easily a better team than last season. And could very well finish as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
“Chicago Bulls ain’t going to win a championship with that team”: Shaquille O’Neal
Despite having such a busy yet successful offseason, many analysts and former legends believe that the Bulls wouldn’t even be a title-contending team. Recently, Shaquille O’Neal was the latest analyst to shatter Chicago’s title hopes. During an interview with “Complex”, Shaq was asked:
“Does the Bulls’ roster make sense to you? We’re talking about Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and they have Nikola Vucevic from the trade deadline last March. The jury’s kind of hung on whether that’s a roster that’s playoff-caliber in the Eastern Conference or destined to be an 11th seed.”
While comparing the Bulls’ small-ball strategy to Golden State’s strategy, “The Diesel” revealed that the Bulls isn’t a championship-winning team.
“They’re going to try and do the Golden State thing. Four smalls, try to spread it out, shoot, run, Zach LaVine shoot threes, Lonzo get everyone involved so it’s going to be an experiment. So hopefully the experiment does pretty good, but you ain’t going to win a championship with that team.”
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To be fair, Shaquille O’Neal isn’t all that wrong. While, no doubt, Chicago is a much-improved squad from last year and even has a few big names on their roster, there is absolutely no way this Bulls team is defeating powerhouses like the Brooklyn Nets or Los Angeles Lakers. But for sure, the Bulls, behind the leadership of DeRozan and LaVine, will hope and be content to see a deep playoff run in the 2022 postseason.
