With each passing day, it seems more and more likely that Finnish power forward Lauri Markkanen will not be returning to the Chicago Bulls for next season. But that doesn’t mean the Bulls can’t still temporarily sign him.
Something like a sign-and-trade deal could work out well for both Markkanen and the Bulls this summer, if the right swap came along.
Possibility of a Lauri Markkanen sign and trade deal for the Chicago Bulls this offseason
There’s no denying Markkanen does provide value to a winning team, but it’s been proven the fit does not work in Chicago. However, teams like the Dallas Mavericks have shown interest in the forward and a potential sign and trade would be a way for the Mavericks to work around their cap issues.
With that being said, as well as reportedly a host of other teams being interested in the former Arizona Wildcat, there could be some interesting sign and trades on the market for the Bulls to take advantage of (outside of the assumed front runners in Dallas).
The Bulls could have some brewing options for sign-and-trade deals involving Markkanen this offseason if there’s a lot of suitors that come calling to executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley.