Bulls might be wise to sneak in a title now

There are countless must-win games but only the occasional must-win season.

Must-win season? Yes, must-win season. This just might be one of them for the Bulls.

That was a thought Tuesday when Bulls general manager Gar Forman shared the NBA Executive of the Year award with Heat president Pat Riley.

The honor is for the regular season and the tiebreaker will come in the postseason if the Bulls and the Heat meet in the Eastern Conference finals.

The matchup became increasingly probable when the Bulls beat Atlanta 95-83 in the United Center in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said in describing how his team reversed the fourth-quarter collapse of the previous game, “You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.”

Having accomplished that, the Bulls now own a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series, leaving them and the Heat each a victory away from colliding next week.

The initial competition between the Bulls and the Heat came last summer when they pursued free agents LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Riley signed all three and Forman settled for second-tier player Carlos Boozer and a bunch of third-tier players.

So far the developments worked out for both teams. The Bulls had the NBA’s best regular-season record and in the postseason the Heat has become the team that rivals feared it would become.

As a result, maybe the Bulls should ask, “If not this season, when?”

You see, as Magic Johnson said about the Heat in a recent radio interview, “Wait ’til next season because I think next season they’re going to win the next two or three (titles).”

The Heat is starting to look like current favorites, perhaps a season early because Riley didn’t have much time to build around James, Wade and Bosh.

Give Riley another summer to acquire better complementary pieces and, as Johnson indicated, there might be no beating the Heat the next few years.

Of course, the Knicks might also figure out a winning combination with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Then there are the Dwight Howard and Chris Paul possibilities for other teams because either could make the right team a legitimate contender. Don’t forget the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets, whose Mad Russian owner Mikhail Prokhaiev is obsessed with buying an NBA title around Deron Williams.

Meanwhile, Forman will need to add on to Derrick Rose. Otherwise the NBA MVP will have to go 1-on-2 in the superstar race with at least James and Wade.

“I feel very, very good about where we’re headed in the future,” Forman said at his award news conference.

The Bulls’ GM must have an idea in mind of how to sign Rose to a big, new contract and still have enough salary-cap room and draft choices to build around him.

Internally, the Bulls can improve by continuing to develop their own young players like Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Omer Asik.

Even if the Bulls can put it all together the next couple of years, as Forman intends to do, it still might be a good idea to win the NBA title in this, what appears to be a bridge season between Lakers and Heat dynasties.

Teams steal a game in the playoffs all the time, but this looks like the season to steal a championship.

mimrem@dailyherald.com