Chicago Bulls: Markkanen gets the fresh start he wanted, in Cleveland

The big move of the day around the NBA landscape came courtesy of the Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers, and Cleveland Cavaliers. These squads helped to form a three-team sign-and-trade deal that had multiple players and draft picks on the move, including fourth-year power forward Lauri Markkanen.

This deal involved the Bulls sending Markkanen to the Cavaliers, Cleveland sending forward Larry Nance Jr. to the Blazers, and Portland sending Derrick Jones Jr. to Chicago. The Bulls also got a lottery-protected future first-round draft pick from the Blazers and a future second-round draft pick from the Cavs.

It’s nice to see the Bulls get some draft capital coming in for a change. And the team gets a nice piece to add to a reserve role either at the three or the four in the uber-athletic former Slam Dunk Content champ Jones Jr.

Meanwhile, the Bulls got to let Markkanen walk while getting something solid in return. Markkanen signed a four-year contract worth around $67 million in total (an average annual value of $16.25 million). That is likely way more than executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley were willing to give Markkanen.

Chicago Bulls part ways with Lauri Markkanen in a deal that benefits all sides

And Markkanen likely didn’t want to return to the Bulls for one more season to play under a qualifying offer under any circumstance.

This is the fresh start that Markkanen was looking for. Even if it is with a team in a much worse position in terms of contender status than the Bulls, Markkanen still can try his hand under a different head coach in a different city in the Central Division.

Granted, the Cavs are looking pretty deep now in the frontcourt at least. Kevin Love is not the player that he once was, but he can still contribute at a high level. And the Cavs also have former Brooklyn Nets center Jarrett Allen and former USC Trojans rookie big man Evan Mobley in the mix in the frontcourt unit.

With Nance out of the picture, though, Markkanen could at least find himself in a solidified backup role. Depending on where the Cavs want to utilize Love and Mobley next season, Markkanen could even find himself in the starting unit at the outset of next season.

Markkanen will get to face his now-former team very soon. The Bulls open up the preseason slate on Oct. 5 at home at the United Center against Markkanen and the Cavs. Given that the two teams are divisional foes, they will face each other four times during the regular season.

And the Bulls and Cavs will face each other twice in five days at the outset of the preseason.

What the Cavs are getting out of Markkanen is a player that averaged 13.6 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks, during the 2020-21 regular season with the Bulls. And he shot 48.0 percent from the field, 40.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 82.6 percent from the free-throw line.

Markkanen spent four years with the Bulls as the team’s seventh overall pick from the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. He never really found permanent traction with the Bulls. But now he’ll get his hand to face them six times between the regular season and preseason during the 2021-22 campaign.