The NBA season ended almost two months ago and I’m still aching a little bit.

I miss it. But, luckily, the offseason never disappoints.

In the recent trade frenzy, some teams made great moves  to beef up their rosters and put themselves in playoff or Finals contention – worsening my aches because now I’m anxious to see them all.

Here are three most exciting NBA teams to watch in the 2021-2022 season.

1. Chicago Bulls

Ahem – did you all see what the Bulls did this offseason?  

They added Lonzo Ball, Derrick Jones Jr. DeMar DeRozan, and STOLE Alex Caruso from the Lakers. They had just added scoring machine Nikola Vucevic midseason last year to get star Zach Lavine some help. Oh yeah, and they still have streaky-but-knockdown shooter Coby White.

I love this team. The Bulls needed a legit point guard and they now have one in Ball, who is progressively starting to show his upside. He had a career year last year, increasing his points per game (14.6), free-throw percentage (.781), three-point percentage (.378) and field goal percentage (.414).

Jones Jr. should find a good home with a team that’s just as young as he is, adding to it his defensive prowess and aerial attack.

Speaking of highlight reels waiting to happen, the Bulls will get some fireworks from Carushow this year. He’ll also bring some more grit to the team. There are not many players in the league who play as hard as him.

And DeRozan…

DeRozan still looks lost, confused and disgruntled about his beloved Toronto shipping him to San Antonio in 2018. His play didn’t dip too much in San Antonio but it wasn’t the greatest fit for the four-time All-Star.

Now, he’s back in the East with a more talented roster. Hopefully, he will start to smile more because they will be winning.

2. L.A. Lakers

The Lakers are the Lakers. On some level, they will always be box office. This year, however, they’ve thrown together several veterans in what seems like a last-ditch effort to get LeBron his fifth championship and the first for some of his new star teammates like Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and DeAndre Jordan.

They brought back Dwight Howard (third time), Rajon Rondo and Trevor Ariza – all former champs with the Lakers.

They are definitely one of the oldest teams in the league but the talent is there. Who knows how this will all go? Either way, both the success and failure will be entertaining to watch. It’s a win-win.

3. Golden State Warriors

During the height of their dynastic run during from 2015-2020, it was not clear as to when the Warriors dominance would end. Certainly no one thought going into 2019, before the Kevin Durant and Draymond Green’s spat that ultimately led to his departure, Stephen Curry’s health problems and Klay Thompson’s injury in the Finals.

And yet, here we are, almost two years later and the team that made five straight Finals appearances has not been to the playoffs in two years.

The beginning of the 2020-2021 season looked more optimistic for the Warriors until  Klay Thompson suffered another catastrophic injury before the season tipped off. You could tell from the Warriors’ energy in the first game of last season they knew their season was blown. They put themselves in playoff contention  by the end of it– and probably would’ve been dangerous team – but were not nearly as much of a threat without Thompson.

He’s back and I’m a-scared for the rest for league. The ceiling for Warriors this season is the Finals with their three franchise players all playing.

They also still have young stud James Wiseman, who averaged 11.5 ppg and shot 31% from outside and the shifty Andrew Wiggins, who averaged 18.6 ppg last season.

They bring back Andre Iguodala – who was a huge part of all their championship runs – and drafted skilled big man Jonathan Kuminga.  

And I love love LOVE their bench, who isn’t afraid of anyone. Damion Lee, Jordan Poole, Juan Tuscano-Anderson and Damion Lee are the real deal.

My lord.

If they don’t get to the Western Conference Finals, their season will be considered a bust.

Honorable mentions: Washington Wizards, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets