This Chicago Bulls division rival just got even better with a trade

The Chicago Bulls are a very middle-of-the-pack NBA team right now. Last season, they went 40-42 which was good enough for the play-in tournament. They won a game there but then fell to the Miami Heat who went all the way to the NBA Finals.

Nobody is really expecting the Bulls to be much better than that this year which is disappointing. They won’t be a terrible team by any means but it is hard to see them being an elite championship-level squad.

The team that has been the most dominant in their division (and one of the most dominant in the NBA as a whole) over the last handful of years is the Milwaukee Bucks. They won the NBA Championship in 2021.

Of course, the Bucks are led by Giannis Antetokounmpo who is one of the very best players in the NBA. Honestly, he has a claim as the single best player in the league and it would be hard to argue it. He gives the Bucks a chance to win the title every single year.

The Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks rivalry just got even more intense.

The Bulls’ most recent playoff appearance that went beyond the play-in round was in 2022 and they lost to the Bucks in 5 games. There is no doubt that they are one of the marquee franchises in the league right now.

On Wednesday, they made a huge move that made them even more dangerous than they were already. They were part of a blockbuster three-team trade that included them, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns.

NBA superstar Damian Lillard is going back to the Bucks in exchange for a bunch of other things being swapped between the three teams. The full details of the trade can be seen here from Shams Charania of The Athletic:

Obviously, those are a lot of moving parts but the biggest thing is Lillard going to that powerhouse Bucks team. Now, along with Giannis, this team believes that they are the best in the NBA and they probably aren’t wrong.

This is the type of team that the Chicago Bulls are going to have to deal with all season long. That is not going to be easy for them at any point. They should end up being the best team in the East and it might not be close.

Milwaukee was already elite and they took a chance and made a huge trade to get even better. This is they type of trade that changes the landscape of the NBA. This rivalry was fun but now it just got even tougher for Chicago. With that said, there is no doubt that Milwaukee will be a treat to watch.