Chicago Bulls: 3 starters who struggled mightily on defense this season

Lauri Markkanen, PF

First and foremost, this list is comprised of Bulls players that have started in at least half of the games they’ve played in for the team this season (playing in a minimum of 25 games thus far). The Bulls had a lot of shuffling of the rotations since the All-Star Break as Donovan looks to find the right combinations to get this team moving in the right direction for good.

This is why the fourth-year seven-footer and power forward Lauri Markkanen made this list. The Bulls have never really seen Markkanen consistently fair well on the defensive end of the floor in his career to date. His potential on the defensive end of the floor had more to do with his length and learning of the game early in his career than with previous proven experience.

Yet, Markkanen hasn’t shown much of any growth on defense over any sustained period of time in his career. That trend really encompasses each of his four years in the NBA to date in terms of his counting stats and advanced metrics on both ends of the floor. Markkanen has just kind of hit a rut on both ends of the floor of late.

And that is not good timing for Markkanen, who is close to hitting the restricted free agent market next offseason. At this point of the season, Markkanen has actually registered a career-low -1.6 defensive box plus/minus rating, 114 defensive rating, and less than one defensive win share. This is a tough stretch for the 24-year-old Finnish big man down the stretch this season.