Hope in Chicago was restored after over a year of an anxiety-filled waiting game. Derrick Rose’s return prompted fans to say that Chicago would once again be a legitimate title contender – a serious threat to the defending Eastern Conference and NBA champions, the Miami Heat. [sc:NBA240banner ]
And bookmakers seem to agree, using Rose’s return as a signal to make the Bulls one of the top favorites to win the Larry O’Brien trophy and the hands-down favorite to rule the Eastern Conference Central Division.
But 11 games into the season, Rose suffered another injury. He tore his meniscus in his right knee, which immediately required him to make a return to the surgery room. He will be out indefinitely and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
Even non-Bulls supporters were saddened by this development. Among them are the bettors who placed money on the Bulls to win the Central Division, the Eastern Conference title and ultimately, the NBA championship. Without Rose, the Bulls are just another fringe contender, or at best, a first-round playoff team.
The Return Postponed: Breakdown of Chicago Bulls’ NBA Futures Odds
Imagine this: Despite all the hoopla generated by the Indiana Pacers last season, when they saw the emergence of a superstar in Paul George, pushed the Heat to the edge in the Eastern Conference Finals, and added savvy offseason acquisitions in Luis Scola and C.J. Watson – who are far better upgrades than the Bulls’ additions of Mike Dunleavy and Tony Snell – bookmakers still thought that Rose’s return would outweigh all of that. They placed the Pacers behind Chicago in the odds to win the Central division.
These odds drove some bettors to throw money on Chicago, thinking that Rose’s return would prevent the Pacers from defending their division title. But then Rose got injured and the Bulls’ chances took a sharp plunge – a plunge that can be seen in their current odds to win the NBA championship.
With the Bulls now priced at +1800, sportsbooks have teams like Houston, the LA Clippers, and the San Antonio Spurs ahead of them in the odds to win the NBA title, with Miami of course sitting at the top. Those teams are playing great basketball, which the Bulls are also doing, despite having to shake off the rust in the first few games. They lost three of their first four but went 5-1 SU afterwards. Since Rose got injured, they have gone 0-2 SU.
The Game-by-Game Betting Implications
Watch out for the first few games of the Bulls without Rose. They seem to be deflated by their star’s injury, which opponents have been quick to capitalize on. The Bulls lost badly to the Clippers as 6-point underdogs (121-82) and got humiliated by the tanking Jazz as 5-point road faves (89-83).It will take time for the Bulls to get into their rhythm, so keep an eye on their performance against the spread, and be weary of the new-look odds for Bulls games moving forward without Rose.
