Chicago Bulls: 3 players that make most sense to trade this offseason
1) Chicago Bulls that make the most sense to trade: Lauri Markkanen
There might not be a more promising part of the current Bulls roster that was more disappointing during the 2019-20 regular season than the former Arizona Wildcat and seven-footer Markkanen. The former seventh overall pick of the Bulls in the 2017 NBA Draft, and ex-All-Rookie Team selection, had his worst season in the league to date in the season that was.
Markkanen played in 50 games during the 2019-20 shortened season for the Bulls (starting in all of them). He averaged 14.7 points per game, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks. Markkanen shot 42.5 percent from the field, 34.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 82.4 percent from the free-throw line. Most of the advanced metrics were career-lows for Markkanen too this season.
There will be an ongoing debate concerning Markkanen entering the final year of his rookie contract as to whether Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley should just go ahead and trade him now.
Should the Bulls go ahead and make the move to trade Markkanen while he still offers a good amount of value on the open market, or wait it out a bit longer with a more proficient front office and coaching staff in the mix?
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A lot of this decision will fall to how the front office plans to utilize Markkanen next season. If they don’t feel like he is a good fit in their planned system moving forward anyway, or there’s already a good trade partner in mind, then they should go ahead and move him now.