Chicago Bulls playing for a roster spot: Lauri Markkanen
The cost to get the fourth-year 23-year-old power forward Lauri Markkanen back next offseason out of the restricted free agent market could be pretty high for the Bulls. Although he hasn’t played too well for this team post-All-Star Break, Markkanen still has a very valuable skill set as a young seven-footer that can space the floor and has a good amount of athleticism for his size.
There was a point in time in which Markkanen was a centerpiece for this Bulls young core, alongside star shooting guard Zach LaVine. But over the course of the past two years, the career trajectories of Markkanen and LaVine have gone in completely opposite directions. LaVine was a first-time All-Star selection this season while Markkanen is playing for a new contract.
Currently in the midst of the final year of his rookie contract, Markkanen played really well out of the gates this season. But his overall production has slipped up in the last two months. That led to Donovan moving Markkanen out of the starting five, in place of newly acquired big men like Nikola Vucevic and Daniel Theis.
Markkanen is now about on his career average pace with a -0.2 box plus/minus rating, .104 win shares per 48 minutes, 15.2 player efficiency rating, and 2.4 total win shares. About the only real area of significant improvement in the advanced metrics came with his true shooting percentage this season, at 61.6.