Chicago Bulls Should Forsake No. 1 Playoff Seed for Healthy Postseason Roster

With their nail-biter overtime win against the Toronto Raptors at home, the Chicago Bulls got their 40^th win of the season and became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff berth.

At 40-10, the Bulls sit atop the Eastern Conference three-and-a-half games ahead of the Miami Heat.

With two-thirds of the season already gone, Chicago’s sights are slowly shifting towards the playoffs.

The Bulls find themselves in the same position as last season: league’s best record, top playoff spot and a bevy of injuries.

Injuries were part of the reason Chicago had trouble in last year’s Eastern Conference finals

Considering that Richard Hamilton is still out, Derrick Rose has missed 16 total games (via ESPN's Nick Friedell, he will likely miss his seventh straight game tonight against the Denver Nuggets) and Luol Deng is still playing with a torn ligament in his left wrist, one has to wonder which should be the bigger priority for the Bulls right now: a No. 1 conference playoff seed or a healthy playoff roster?

Granted, it is a pretty sweet deal knowing that no matter who your opponent is in the playoffs you will be playing in front of your own fans more often than not.

It’s a fitting reward for a team’s regular-season dominance and a well-earned one at that. However, seeing as how Chicago has played just as well on the road (20-6) as it has at home (20-4), it becomes apparent that the Bulls can steal away home-court advantage in any series they find themselves in.

With that being said, being as healthy as possible going into the playoffs should be a bigger priority.

So far this season, the Bulls have played disproportionately more with an adjusted starting lineup than they have with what should have been their regular group for Rose, Hamilton, Deng, Boozer and Noah.

Of those five, it may surprise many that Carlos Boozer is the only one who has started every game so far.

The Bulls’ success hinges on their team concept. This “all-hands-on-deck” approach, of course, requires everyone to be available and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

So far, the reserves that have seen increased minutes have done a pretty good job of filling in when needed.

It only bolsters the fact that this good Chicago team can be even better if everyone were available to play.

While most teams take their effort and intensity up a notch in the postseason, Chicago only needs a fully manned roster since it already plays in constant overdrive.

So how can the Bulls attain optimum health?

The easiest and best solution would be to rest as many of the key players as much as possible until the season’s end; this will be a two-way boon for Chicago.

On one hand, it will continue to give Chicago’s reserve players more opportunities to further develop before the playoffs start; on the other hand, it will minimize the risk of further harming the most important personnel.

With 16 games left in the season, head coach Tom Thibodeau can floor a .500 team, split the remaining games and still have a record that is good enough for the No. 2 seed in the East.

This intentional opossum strategy will make it hard for potential playoff opponents to brace themselves for a reinvigorated, complete Bulls roster.

It is glaringly obvious that Chicago’s biggest adversary this season has been itself.

If the Bulls want to break through the wall that stopped them in their tracks last year, they are going to have to play it smart and think long-term success instead of trying to make short-term statements about how good and deep this team is.

Everyone knows that the Bulls are well-coached with a deep roster that can beat teams in a variety of ways.

But what good is that in the regular season if the wear and tear causes the wheels to fall off in the playoffs?

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