3) Chicago Bulls valuable trade chips ahead of deadline
Lauri Markkanen, Power Forward
A player for the Bulls that is definitely going to draw a lot of attention as we draw closer to the trade deadline is the fourth-year former Arizona Wildcat and 23-year-old power forward Lauri Markkanen. The Bulls improving seven-footer is having his most productive and efficient of his career to date. That is creating quite the bounce back story for the Bulls after Markkanen had arguably his worst season in the NBA last year.
In his fourth year in the NBA, more shots are starting to fall for Markkanen and he’s becoming more effective on the defensive end of the floor. All-around, Markkanen is looking like a more reliable and consistent big man that can be a regular big time contributor for the Bulls. If his health stands up over the long haul this season, Markkanen could be huge to the team’s success in the win column.
Markkanen has played in 13 games for the Bulls so far this season (starting in all of them), averaging around 32 minutes on the floor per game. And he’s averaged 19.6 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks. Markkanen shot an efficient 51.1 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 84.1 percent from the free-throw line.
That all has amounted to a career-best 0.4 box plus/minus rating, 0.3 value over replacement player rating, .113 win shares per 48 minutes, 1.0 total win shares, 65.3 true shooting percentage, 116 offensive rating/114 defensive rating, and a 17.1 player efficiency rating.
All in all, since Markkanen is in the final year of his rookie contract and he’s about to hit the restricted free agent market next offseason, he could be a hot commodity on the trade market this year.