More and more Bulls rumors are pouring out now concerning the status of fourth-year power forward and seven-footer Lauri Markkanen. Chicago definitely looks to be out on the race to re-sign the restricted free agent Markkanen this summer, as he wants a new start elsewhere heading into next season.
Markkanen looked like he could land with a team like the San Antonio Spurs or Minnesota Timberwolves at the outset of the offseason. But as the free agency negotiation window moved along last week, no suitors surfaced to legitimately sign Markkanen.
Instead, the market for Markkanen dried up in a matter of days as various teams that could’ve pursued him otherwise started to run out of cap space. That namely included the Charlotte Hornets, who had enough cap space to sign Markkanen but decided to go with the former Golden State Warriors wing Kelly Oubre Jr. on a two-year deal worth around a total of $26 million.
Updated Bulls rumors showing some more interest in Lauri Markkanen
There are some suitors potentially setting a market for Markkanen this week. According to a report from Marc Stein on Twitter on the afternoon of Aug. 10, the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans have serious interest in trying to sign Markkanen out of restricted free agency.
Chicago wants a first-round pick to facilitate a Lauri Markkanen sign-and-trade, as I reported over the weekend, and naturally prefers to take back no salary … key factors in Markkanen’s struggles to find a better offer than his one-year qualifier. More: https://t.co/A6ycVmnrjq https://t.co/h1ZjL6sH1O
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 10, 2021
Another report from Darren Wolfson this week noted that the Timberwolves do still have some interest in seeing what it takes to sign Markkanen this offseason.
Markkanen likely will still get just a fraction of what he was looking for in his next contract, regardless of who he signs with. No teams exist with a plethora of cap space at this point of the free agency window.
Unless the Bulls get a solid sign-and-trade deal in store, the next contract for Markkanen is likely to have an average annual value around $10-$12 million. That is likely less than the amount that Markkanen looked for at the outset of the offseason.
This is a market for Markkanen that was unexpectedly thin. While there were some big names out there in free agency, Markkanen wasn’t one of the notable headliners signed last week.
Markkanen had a decent season with the Bulls during the 2020-21 campaign. He averaged 13.6 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks. And Markkanen shot 48.0 percent from the field, 40.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 82.6 percent from the free-throw line.