Who's to say NBA rivalries aren't relevant in this day and age? I'd say Detroit Pistons fans are probably still getting a pretty big kick out of watching what's been happening with their divisional rival Chicago Bulls this offseason.
Sometimes, it can be every bit as much fun to relish in the failures of your rival as it can be to celebrate your own team's success. That's exactly what Pistons fans are doing right now when looking at the Bulls. It's not exactly a secret that Chicago's franchise has been struggling for many years trying to turn themselves back around, and they've done themselves no favors this summer, either.
Overall, it would be hard for even the neutral observer to say that the Bulls look like they've really leveled up in any meaningful way since the offseason started. Maybe there hasn't been anything really back-breaking that's taken place, but it's more like a bunch of little things that are all adding up.
First of all, Josh Giddey still being unsigned at this point in the offseason is a little shocking. He had a very solid season in Chicago last year, but he and the team appear to be still locked in a stalemate on contract talks. That's not a great look.
The Bulls' failures are music to the Pistons' ears
Then, the Bulls did trade Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a deal I'm not sure other teams would have done. That one's got to be disappointing for them looking back, knowing that they could accepted several proposed packages for Ball that were probably better, including at least one that supposedly included a first-round pick.
The one player it seems like the Bulls have been consistently trying to trade is Nikola Vucevic, but nothing's materialized there. So they've had an overall unproductive offseason, and the bottom line is that Chicago really just hasn't gotten better at all.
That's unfortunate for them, but I think Pistons fans might use some different words to describe it. This kind of net negative summer for the Bulls was especially concerning for them considering how wide open the Eastern Conference is about to be next season. Chicago had a chance to jump into a higher tier of teams with some smart moves, but it appears they've missed the mark.
This is of course great for Detroit. One less divisional rival you have to worry about being on a similar level as you, and now the Pistons head into next season primed to massively outperform their friends from the Windy City.