It seems like a couple of times each month, we hear about a handful of teams that could be interested in fourth-year power forward Lauri Markkanen. No previous Bulls rumors concerning Markkanen and his restricted free agency really ever involved the Minnesota Timberwolves previously to July 16.
But a piece from Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic heading into the weekend (paid content), mentioned that Markkanen could be a potential target of the Timberwolves in restricted free agency this summer. If the Timberwolves are willing to shell out some additional money to sign Markkanen, then he could join a rather intriguing young core in the Twin Cities.
Markkanen would be joining a core that could consist of the likes of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and shooting guard Anthony Edwards, star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, and standout guard D’Angelo Russell. We’ll just wait and see if this budding young core of the Timberwolves will actually work out this time.
What would be ironic about Markkanen signing with the Timberwolves is the fact that they are the team that originally held that pick for the Bulls in the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery. The Timberwolves shipped off that pick to the Bulls, along with point guard Kris Dunn and star shooting guard Zach LaVine for the return of star shooting guard/small forward Jimmy Butler.
Bulls rumors could be connecting Lauri Markkanen and the Timberwolves
It is also worth noting that a potential sign-and-trade deal could be in the works for the Bulls to send Markkanen off to the Timberwolves if there’s an intriguing offer on the table. Otherwise, the Timberwolves would have to top Markkanen’s offer sheet, which could have a number of other suitors.
The Bulls aren’t likely to bring Markkanen back heading into next season. Given that the Bulls won’t have all that much cap space available even if they do part ways with Markkanen this summer means that they probably want to use that money elsewhere.
There are other impending free agent Bulls’ players that the front office would probably want to bring back before Markkanen. That list includes the likes of former Boston Celtics center Daniel Theis and even veteran shooting guard Garrett Temple.
Although, it’s not out of the question that Arturas Karnisovas and the Bulls decide to bring back Markkanen if the price tag is cheap enough on his offer sheet. But Markkanen will get nothing less than the starter-level minimum on his next contract.
Markkanene came out of the gates hot during the regular season with the Bulls, but he cooled down during the stretch run. Head coach Billy Donovan didn’t even have Markkanen in the starting unit much post-All-Star Break.