Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Chicago Bulls: start time, tv info, and preview

It's trade deadline day! And while the Cavs probably won't be involved in any blockbuster moves that shake the foundations of their core, they do play the Chicago Bulls tonight. The Bulls played the Cavs tougher than anyone not named the Warriors in the playoffs last season, but they've had a relatively rough go of it this season. Hopefully the Cavs are fresh and ready to go after the All-Star break.

Speaking of the Cavs foundational core, you'd probably say it involves Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert, LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson. It's neat, because it's five guys who theoretically would be able to play together and complement each other's skills pretty well. For a variety of reasons, they've only shared the court for 36 minutes this season. It'll be curious to see if this goes up over time. It's not essential that they do, but the Cavs do have around $350 million invested in those players going forward.

There are injuries and caveats and it's okay, but it's worth monitoring.

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (38-14) vs. Chicago Bulls (27-25)

When: 8:00 p.m.

Where: Quicken Loans Arena -- Cleveland, Ohio

TV: TNT

Enemy Blog: Blogabull

Music:

Kevin Love is good to go tonight, and Matthew Dellavedova is probable. The Cavs have not approached, consistently, the level of play they put together post January 15 last season, and they are running out of time. It's not too late for the Cavs to blitz the league and make it clear that they belong in the conversation with the Spurs and Warriors. With the Celtics and Raptors playing solid basketball, you'd like it to be a bit more clear that they will make their way through the East fairly easily.

The Bulls are a hurt team that badly needs depth on the wing. There is always the risk that Derrick Rose goes off, but he's largely a shell of himself at this point. Fred Hoiberg hasn't had an easy go of it, and while Pau Gasol puts up solid numbers it's not clear it helps them put together great stretches of basketball. Forgive me for a light preview, but we'll go back to trade deadline coverage. Have a great Thursday.