Has Lauri Markkanen played his last game for the Chicago Bulls? That appears to be the preference if it were up to the former first round pick out of Arizona. Markkanen isn’t too thrilled about Chicago right now. His performance probably reflects that too. There’s no question Markkanenen has regressed under Jim Boylen. He’s made his thoughts very clear. If big changes aren’t made, Markkanen wants OUT!
VIA: Joe Cowley at the Chicago Sun-Times:
Make no mistake about it, third-year big man Lauri Markkanen was one unhappy camper before the coronavirus put the NBA on hiatus. Unhappy enough that if the direction of the organization was going to stay unchanged, he’d rather be elsewhere.
Who knows exactly what that includes. Does that mean a trade for a star player? Does that mean GarPax and or Jim Boylen gets fired? We don’t know when the NBA is returning but we do know that Lauri Markkanen is not happy about his current situation. The Finnisher is heading into the final season of his rookie contract next year.
Markkanen, 22, is down in pretty much every statistical category from the 2018-2019 season. Even his minutes are down. It doesn’t help matters that the Bulls are a tire fire in a top heavy Eastern Conference. This is a difficult spot for the Bulls who still have a year of control and restricted free agency rights. You also don’t want to give up a prime asset from the Jimmy Butler trade for pennies on the dollar. Especially a player who is still so young with plenty of room to grow.
