Rich Get Richer in the East

During their playoff series with the Boston Celtics last season, the Bulls looked like a team that was ready to make the leap, ready to take their game to the next level.  For the Bulls, that would mean joining the elite teams of the Eastern Conference.  While that surely remains a goal for the 2009-10 season, it’s not going to be easy.  The rich seemed to get richer in the East this offseason.  Four players acquired by Eastern Conference teams received votes for “Best Newcomer” in a recent ESPN.com experts poll.

The Cavaliers, last season’s number one seed, acquired Shaquille O’Neal.  The Orlando Magic, last season’s conference champs, acquired Vince Carter, though they lost Hedo Turkoglu.  Turkoglu moved on to Toronto and last season’s number two seed, the Celtics, acquired Rasheed Wallace.  The top three teams in the conference, the Cavs, Magic and Celtics, all made major acquisitions and the Raptors are not a team to sleep on either.  The Bulls did not make any major moves this offseason, but will be getting Luol Deng back from injury, which is like a major acquisition.  Still, it’s not going to be easy to break into the upper echelon of teams in the conference, especially with Washington getting Gilbert Arenas back and landing Randy Foye and Mike Miller as well.

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