Chicago Bulls: 3 players set to get major pay raise this summer

Chicago Bulls players set to get pay raises this summer: Lauri Markkanen

Although a lot of the discussion concerning fourth-year power forward and impending restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen is about why he won’t return for the Bulls next season, his next contract is almost certain to pay him more than his rookie deal.

The main reason why it is almost assured that Markkanen’s next deal is that he was getting roughly $7-$8 million in the latter years of his rookie contract, and he qualifies for starter-level money in restricted free agency this summer. Markkanen met, and then exceeded, the requirement from the NBA for the number of games needed to start to get starter-level money in restricted free agency.

And that next contract figure he gets out of restricted free agency this summer almost has to exceed the rookie scale deal.

With that in mind, if Markkanen has more than just a few suitors in free agency this summer then his bidding price will likely get driven up pretty high. And with a good number of suitors expected to come his way this summer, expect the next contract of Markkanen to at least eclipse the mark of $12-$14 million.

Markkanen put up some numbers this season that will attract some teams to through him a bag this offseason. For the first time in his career, he shot at least 48 percent from the field and better than 40 percent from beyond the arc. Given that he can distribute the ball, drive rather effectively, and rebound, along with his solid shooting stroke, it makes sense that a lot of teams would be willing to give Markkanen a sizable pay raise this summer.