The Chicago Bulls, in the midst of a four-year playoff drought, reshaped their roster earlier this week, adding Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan via sign-and-trade agreements and Alex Caruso via free agency.
But will these guards -- playing alongside Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic -- actually help turn the franchise into a championship contender once again? JR isn't exactly convinced.
"I can look at the Chicago Bulls and say they're an improved team," JR said during the JR SportBrief show on Tuesday. "I can say, dammit, it's going to be fun watching Lonzo Ball throwing alley-oops to Zach Lavine -- I can see the highlights now. I can see DeMar DeRozan, who also happens to be a very good passer, helping to initiate the halfcourt offense... The Chicago Bulls are good. They should win some games, I'm happy for them. They should get back into the playoffs, they shouldn't disappoint us.
"But the fact is, the Chicago Bulls are good, and that's it. The Chicago Bulls aren't realistic competitors in the East... The Bulls don't have depth. The Bulls have to actually figure out how to operate this offense. And so when I think about depth, and how these pieces fit together, the Bulls should go back to the playoffs. But to legitimately be contenders in the East? I'd be shocked about that. I don't anticipate that..."
Ball, the second overall pick in 2017, averaged career-high marks in points per game (14.6), three-point percentage (.378), and field goal percentage (.414) in 55 games for the New Orleans Pelicans last season. But the 23-year-old has also battled injuries, as he missed 65 games in his first two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and a combined 26 games in the past two years with New Orleans.
As for DeRozan, a four-time All-Star, he averaged 21.6 points and a career-high 6.9 assists in 61 games for the San Antonio Spurs last season. According to multiple reports, the 31-year-old swingman is expected to sign a three-year, $85 million-plus deal with the Bulls.
Chicago has the seventh-best odds (+4000) to win the Eastern Conference in 2022, and the 15th-best odds (+8000) to win the NBA Finals for the first time since 1997-98, according to the William Hill Sportsbook.
JR's complete thoughts on the revamped Bulls can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the JR SportBrief show on Twitter @JRSportBrief and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.