5 Eastern Conference players who deserve to be in the playoffs

#2 Zach LaVine - Chicago Bulls

LaVine has had visible issues with Coach Boylen

Zach LaVine has worked hard in the recent past to transform his image from an explosive dunker to an all-round basketball player. He has put in the work during the offseason, and the results are pretty evident.

While Lauri Markkanen hasn't been as effective as expected for the Chicago Bulls, LaVine has emerged as their go-to guy in clutch scenarios. The 24-year-old is putting together career-high numbers in 25.2 points, 4.8 boards, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per matchup, while also shooting over 38% from deep this season. LaVine also made his first career appearance in the All-Star 3-point contest this year.

He has started in all of the 58 games for the Bulls so far, and has managed to compete at a high level despite apparent differences with the coaching staff.

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#3 Bradley Beal - Washington Wizards

Beal recently dropped 50 in back-to-back losses

Bradley Beal's utter misfortune has become a talking point across the league. And he has every right to get mad at the way things are playing out.

The Washington Wizards shooting guard became the first player to average 28+ ppg and still get snubbed from the All-Star game. Moreover, he recently became the first player to drop back-to-back 50-point games since Kobe Bryant in 2007, but both the matchups ended up in frustrating losses.

The 26-year-old is currently averaging 30.1 points (career-high and league's second-best), along with 4.3 boards, 6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Despite his astounding stats, the Wizards are slated to miss another postseason.

Unfortunately for Beal, he was left alone to carry this team when John Wall went down with a season-ending injury, resulting in a pretty forgettable campaign for the franchise.