Chicago Bulls Lose Derrick Rose: NBA Odds Update

The Chicago Bulls have a 1-0 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers coming into this week, and no one really expects to see them struggle over the course of the rest of their series. However, they have lost Derrick Rose for the rest of the season to a torn ACL, and that might severely alter the way that the Bulls are approached on the NBA Finals odds for the rest of the year as well.

By most accounts, Chicago was either the second favorite or the third favorite, very closely in line with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but behind the Miami Heat in the pecking order in terms of favorites to win it all.

With Rose out of the lineup though, everything changes just a bit. Not only did the Bulls fall behind the Thunder as the favorites to win the NBA Championship, but they also dropped behind the San Antonio Spurs. Both teams from the Western Conference are up 1-0 in their respective best-of-seven series. The Bulls can be found at +550 to win the NBA Championship at Bookmaker Sportsbook.

We understand that the adjustment had to be made, but we just aren’t all that sure that it is justified. Remember that in Game 1 against Philadelphia, one of the best defensive teams in the league, Richard Hamilton was able to step up and score 19 points, just four fewer than what Rose scored. There was a long stretch of games this year in which both Hamilton and Rose were out of the lineup, and yet in the end, the Bulls still had the best record in the league.

Chicago still has a combination of players that no one else does in the NBA. Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah are all superstars, and they are all players that can log double-doubles in every single game. They are clearly a trio that outsize the 76ers, and the truth of the matter is that we aren’t all that afraid of running into the Atlanta Hawks or the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs either.

In the end, the realistic chances of the Bulls winning the NBA Finals this year took a big hit when Rose was carried off of the court of the United Center on Sunday afternoon. That being said though, we think that the sportsbooks have just adjusted far too much for what they are still worth, and we think that by hook or by crook, they are still going to find themselves as contenders for the NBA Championship when it is all said and done this year.