Chicago Bulls: 3 players that should be ‘untouchable’ at the trade deadline

3. Lauri Markkanen, Power Forward

The importance of third-year power forward Lauri Markkanen to the Chicago Bulls looked to be paramount at the outset of the regular season. But a rather poor start to the year made Markkanen one of the more disappointing players for the Bulls so far. He’s posting some of his worst efficiency and shooting numbers of his career thus far.

A common theme among two of the Bulls players on this list is that they shouldn’t be traded thanks to two factors. The first being injuries that both players are currently dealing with. And the other is that each still remains an important piece of the frontcourt for the future of this franchise.

Given the poor play  en, it would be easy to see how the Bulls front office would be willing to part ways with him.

However, if the return wasn’t there then sending off Markkanen would obviously be a poor decision. He’s just too important to the future of this franchise otherwise to get a bad return for him. Getting a seven-footer than can average a double-double per game while shooting better than 35 percent from beyond the arc is still a difficult and highly sought after feat in the NBA nowadays.

Hopefully head coach Jim Boylen won’t be the permanent solution for the Bulls future beyond this season or next. If GarPax brings in a more capable head coach at the end of the Boylen tenure (whenever that will be), then Markkanen might be utilized better than taking the lowest amount of three-point attempts and some of the lowest number of field goal attempts of his short NBA career.