There may not have been any upsets, but the first round of the NBA playoffs was the best since the field expanded to 16 teams in 1984. Five of the eight series went six games and four were deadlocked at two before the winner emerged. That’s some solace to the teams that start their off-seasons this week, but not much. Here’s a look at what the last four teams to exit the playoffs need to do to go further next spring.

After putting a serious scare into the Heat, the Chicago Bulls have reinstated hoops fever to post-dynasty-era Chicago. The new Bulls established an identity as a young, scrappy, physical bunch with a perimeter-oriented offense and a stellar defense. They can play in the clutch, too: Before testing Miami, Chicago won 12 of its last 14 regular season games.

The Bulls enter the off-season with a high lottery pick thanks to Isiah Thomas’s lack of foresight in the Eddy Curry deal, as well as their own pick, no. 16 overall, and about $15 million in salary cap room. The Bulls’ needs are simple: size. They need a post player with a scoring touch to diversify their offense, and they need a big guard to match up against the elite two-guards to strengthen their defense.

With power forward LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas and shooting guard Ronnie Brewer of Arkansas – the two picks most mock drafts have going to Chicago – the Bulls may solve both needs without dipping into their substantial cap room. They can then spend that money on fortifying their bench. With all their key indicators trending upward, plus cap room and two first-round picks, the Bulls have a scenario not even Scott Layden could mismanage.

If you didn’t a get a good look at this year’s Washington Wizards, don’t sweat it, next year’s model should be pretty similar. With a core of veterans in the midst of lengthy contracts and little in the way of cap room, the Wizards are practically locked into maintaining the status quo.

Forward Jared Jeffries is a restricted free agent and will draw interest from other clubs, but the Wizards are far enough away from potential luxury tax penalties to match any offer. The Wizards declined from 47 to 42 wins this year, but minor injuries played the biggest role in the decline.

Washington’s major off-season challenge will be to adjust their schemes to defend better. With Gilbert Areans on the floor, the Wizards are a first-rate offensive team. They also pressure the ball well, ranking second in the league this season in the percentage of opponents’ possessions that resulted in turnovers. But they’re weak in defending the paint and contesting shots. A potential perimeter stopper will be their draft priority, but those kinds of players take time to develop. Meanwhile, Washington’s ability to return to the second round of the playoffs next season depends more on the field than their ability to remake the roster.

In contrast to Washington, where the short term is set in stone, everything is in flux in for the Sacramento Kings. Longtime coach Rick Adelman is a free agent, as is guard Bonzi Wells, who had a breakout series against San Antonio and could command major money this summer. Ironically, the controversial Ron Artest, who keyed a midseason turnaround – he joined the 17-24 squad and led them to a 27-14 second half – has said and done all the right things, and appears to be an island of stability in the situation.

Kings team president Geoff Petrie is one of the NBA’s shrewdest talent judges, which is why the coaching instability is a small mystery. But the dearth of openings for Adelman to pursue means he’ll likely to return to Sacramento.

Wells’s situation is one that top execs like Petrie can exploit in their sleep. The shooting guard’s excellent work against San Antonio has obscured his bad rep (he’s been run out of Memphis and Portland), and his stock has never been higher. Petrie has scoffed at Wells’s insistence on a five- or six-year deal (and with reason: can you imagine Wells and Artest coexisting peacefully for five years?).In all likelihood, he’ll orchestrate a sign-and-trade deal. With Adelman and without Wells, the Kings should be primed to crash the upper half of the Western Conference playoff bracket next season.

It’s hard to imagine the Los Angeles Lakers being better than they were this year. In fact, it’s hard to imagine the Lakers even being as good as they were this year. Los Angeles’s 44-38 record with a roster that featured exactly two players who could start on any other team (Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom) is one of Phil Jackson’s great coaching feats.

Next year, he’ll have to do it again. The Lakers are capped out, so they will only have their mid-level exception and Miami’s first round-draft pick (they traded their own a few years ago for Chris Mihm before receiving the Heat’s in the Shaq deal).That won’t be enough to restructure a roster that, aside from the shooting guard and power forward positions, is short on talent to match up to the best in the West. To keep from being overtaken by New Orleans/Oklahoma City or Utah, Jackson will need to pull a few more tricks out of his Zenmaster hat.

mjohnson@nysun.com