So the first three teams to have their Finals hopes dashed are the Bobcats, Bulls, and Heat. Here's my take on where these teams go from here:
Charlotte Bobcats: The Bobcats just don't get a lot of national attention, so I admittedly don't know what their plan is going forward. They have a nice team, but the issue is they seem to be a team built for the regular season. They remind me alot of the Scott Skiles era Chicago Bulls: they look like a perennial playoff team that will lose in round 1 or 2 every year. Gerald Wallace is a great player and they have good interier defense with Thomas and Chandler (assuming they re-sign Thomas), but in my opinion Wallace is a championship calibar team's 2nd or 3rd All-Star rather than the first. They need to either get another All-Star player to play with Wallace (unlikely since they don't have cap space, and to trade for one would make them the Heat and have 0 supporting cast), or get about 3 more guys of Wallace's calibar to even sniff the 3rd round, let alone the Finals. They have a good foundation and a front office that wants to win, now the question is do they have the ability to get the resources.
Miami Heat: This is a disappointing year for the Miami Heat in my opinion, despite that they made the Playoffs. This team reminds me of the Sprewell/Olowakandi/Scyzybak Timberwolves. That team kept trying to "show Garnett they want to win" by adding good-not-great players, some of which they got on the cheap and others they overpaid for. Wade mentioned that he had to do it by himself in game four, just to keep his team from being swept. The Heat keep telling him they'll get him the cast he needs to get another ring, but very rarley can one All-Star do it by himself. O'Neal just isn't an All-Star anymore. Beasley is a good player but should be a 3rd or 4th option, not a second. He's a just-under-All-Star type guy (think Luol Deng), and shouldn't be expected to be more than he is, as thats how players become busts. I see this offseason making or breaking the Heat for the next 5 or so seasons. Wade likely won't make a decision on returning to Miami until the Heat make the rest of their moves, then he'll decide if he thinks it's enough. He's not looking to be a 2nd-3rd round punching bag every year, he wants more rings. Miami needs to look at how other teams have built around their star. Cleveland brought in Shaq, Jamison, and re-signed Illgauskas. The 90's Bulls, when it looked like Pippen and Jordan were aging and would need some help, traded for Rodman and brought in Harper. The Lakers got Pau Gasol to pair with Kobe. It's fine for Miami to re-sign Jermaine O'Neal, or other players of his calibar. But that cannot be the centerpiece. The need to add another great player, or Wade won't want to come back, and even if he does they'll have no shot at a ring in the near future. On a side note, I think it was tough luck mathcing up with the Celtics. I think thay match up much better against Milwaukee or Atlanta, and I think the Celtics lose in round one if they match up with any of the 7 other East Playoff teams, with the exception of Milwaukee (although i'd even pick the Bucks if Bogut was healthy).
Chicago Bulls: The Bulls are extremley close to contending for a title. Cleveland was an extremley tough matchup for them, because they don't have much low-post scoring outside of Noah. If the Bulls match up with Boston, I think they win that series. They first have to decide if they are bringing back Coach Del Negro. Unlike most people, I think this is a win-win situation. If they bring him back, they are bringing back a coach who is 2-for-2 lifetime in getting his team to the Playoffs, as well as the coach who has developed Rose and Noah thus far. If they don't, they'll be undoubtably bringing in an experienced and playoff tested head coach (the Chicago papers have thrown around the names Avery Johnson, Phil Jackson, Hubie Brown, Doug Collins, and Lawrence Frank (ugg) among others). Next on the list, the Bulls have one of the largest amounts of available money under the cap in the league this offseason, and their goal is to get another star to pair with Rose, as well as a 3-point juggernaut. Some have suggested targeting LeBron James, Joe Johnson, or Dwayne Wade. The Chicago media however keeps saying that they are targeting Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, or Amare Stoudemire, which to me makes a lot of sense. Adding a star big man seems like it would work very well with Derrick Rose, especially if they are also able to bring in a 3 point shooting 2 gaurd (say Warriors free agent Anthony Morrow?). The Bulls have the biggest to-do list of any of these three teams, but they also seem like the team with the best ability to get it all taken care of fairly early in the offseason. Look for the Bulls to challenge the Cavaliers and Magic for the East next year. On a side note, don't be fooled by the 41-41 reccord. The Bulls are a better team than that. Remember that they were on pace for 46 wins, and then within 3 days and right before (statistically) the toughest part of their schedule, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Loul Deng all got injured and Kirk Hinrich got suspended. They lost 10 in a row without their 4 best players, but then they showed who they were again by taking 11 out of 14 to finish the season once their starters got back.