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Don’t blame Lauri Markkanen for the shenanigans of Gar Forman, John Paxson

By Michael Whitlow

Jun 22, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Lauri Markkanen (Arizona) is introduced by NBA commissioner Adam Silver as the number seven overall pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 22, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Lauri Markkanen (Arizona) is introduced by NBA commissioner Adam Silver as the number seven overall pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Lauri Markkanen may not have been the sexy blogger pick for the Chicago Bulls after the Jimmy Butler trade on Thursday night, but that’s not his fault. Blame the guys that spoke while the second round of the draft was still going on after they sold their pick like it was a 1965 Cadillac DeVille.

Just because Malik Monk, Dennis Smith Jr. or Frank Ntilikina may have been your first choice at No. 7, Bulls fans … doesn’t mean Lauri Markkanen deserves your hatred in his social media mentions.

Markkanen, who was one of the best players in the Pac-12 Conference that included Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, T.J. Leaf and an Oregon team filled with talent that went to the Final Four, may not have been the pick the Bulls should’ve made on Thursday night. Still, he’s the not the problem here.

The problem with all of this is Gar Forman and John Paxson trading Jimmy Butler, a bonafide star and a top-15 player in the NBA, for a former dunk champion two-guard that was having a good season before tearing his ACL (Zach LaVine), a point guard that the Bulls loved last year in the draft and was bad last season (Kris Dunn) and the ability to trade up nine spots while also giving up their own first round pick.

Oh, and then they sold their pick they finally got from the Sacramento Kings (in the second round) in the Luol Deng trade from over three years ago to the best team in the league, who may have gotten one of the draft’s biggest sleepers. Again.

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    • It’s a pretty telling sign when the trainer of the star player you traded is calling your general manager out for lying and have “the worst culture in the league.”

    (That part of the presser did bring on a hilarious “It it what it is” reaction from Forman and Paxson calling Butler’s trainer Travelle Gaines “unprofessional” in saying that, like he didn’t choke former Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro after a dispute seven years ago.)

    Plus, negotiations went well with Tom Thibodeau? That’s what Forman and Paxson mentioned towards the end of the press conference on Thursday.

    There’s no way you’re expecting anyone to actually believe that.

    The guy who had Ron Adams, his best assistant that you fired because you wanted to prove a point, is now fleecing you in a blockbuster trade and his best assistant is thriving with the NBA champions out west.

    Jimmy Butler is worth more than a promising shooting guard that tore his ACL four months ago, a old young point guard that’s already 23 years old and gaining nine spots in the draft to draft a player that’s similar to a player you already have on your roster in Nikola Mirotic.

    And yet, the Bulls took Markkanen without speaking to him or bringing him in for a workout. (Markkanen’s never even been to Chicago, according to the conference call he was on last night with reporters.)

    “What we’ve done tonight is set a direction,” Paxson said at the press conference on Thursday night.

    “We’ve gone to the past where we make the playoffs, but not at the level we wanted to. In this league, success is not determined that way. We’ve decided to make the change and rebuild this roster. We’re going to do it with young players we believe can play a system Fred [Hoiberg] is comfortable with. And we’re going to be disciplined and patient as we make decisions along the way. I think one of the big things when you set a course like this is the decision-making is clearly defined.”

    What’s comical about that is, how many times have we all sat down and watched the Bulls brag about being the regular season conquerors in their meetings with teams like Cleveland, Miami (with LeBron), Toronto, etc. How many times has Forman bragged about making the postseason in consecutive years (until two seasons ago)?

    Rebuilding the roster isn’t the problem. It’s probably what the Bulls should’ve done. Jimmy Butler is good enough and will likely be in line for a “supermax” of over $200 million in a couple summers. It makes sense to trade him, especially to the coach that really got the best out of him before you fired him. Starting over isn’t a bad thing, so trading him is good.

    But in the end, it’s hard to convince a lot of fans right now that an injured wing, a guard that’s older than virtually every player in the last two draft classes and a prospect in Lauri Markkanen that had his fair share of struggles even in college with potentially better players available.

    Next: Trade aside, here's why the Bulls didn't score at No. 7 in the draft

    Time will tell if GarPax are actually smarter than we … you know what, let’s just end this with it’s going to take some time to see if this is going to work.

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