Lauri Markkanen, PF
There’s still plenty of discussion going on around what the Bulls should do with fourth-year power forward Lauri Markkanen come next offseason. Markkanen is currently in the midst of the final year of his rookie contract, and first-year executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley don’t look like they will make him a significant part of this team’s future.
Granted, if the asking price for Markkanen’s next contract isn’t all that high off of the restricted free agent market this summer, then it might be worth looking into keeping him in a key bench role moving forward. The way Markkanen is playing of late should at least get this new front office regime thinking about keeping him around beyond the next offseason.
The former Arizona Wildcat and 23-year-old Finnish seven-footer Markkanen has shined in his newfound role of coming off the bench of late. This is really the first time that Markkanen has found himself in a reserve role in his NBA career to date.
As a reserve this season in five games, Markkanen averaged 11.8 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks. And he’s shot an insanely efficient 62.2 percent from the field, 53.3 percent from beyond the arc, and is perfect on five attempts from the free-throw line. That gives him a stellar 130 offensive rating and 75.3 true shooting percentage in a reserve role this season.
The asking price for Markkanen next offseason is likely still going to be high, but at least he’s providing a spark for this Bulls frontcourt rotation down the stretch this season.