The Chicago Bulls came into the 2019-2020 NBA season with so much optimism. Much of it centered around their young core of rising scorer Zach Lavine and sharpshooting big man Lauri Markkanen. If those two took the expected steps in their development, this team could start a rise towards contention in the Eastern Conference. Instead the Bulls continued to struggle and the Finnish native was at the center of it.
Markkanen struggled in every notable category. After averaging 18.7 points in his second season, he barely managed 14.7 this year. He also had career lows in rebounds and three-point shooting, supposedly one of his biggest strengths. Most chalk this up to a simple lack of confidence. Much of that brought on by his displeasure with the current coaching staff.
According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, it’s gotten bad enough to where the 22-year might try to find a way out of town.
“And then there was the quiet storm, privately churning in the corner since early on in the season, keeping his frustrations as off-the-record one-liners, discrediting the direction of the offense, his role in it, and the highly embraced shot profile that Bulls analytics was stressing.
Make no mistake about it, third-year big man Lauri Markkanen was one unhappy camper before the coronavirus put the NBA on hiatus. Unhappy enough that if the direction of the organization was going to stay unchanged, he’d rather be elsewhere.”
Bulls hope Lauri Markkanen will hang on a little longer
No doubt those at the top are well aware of their young talent’s displeasure. It likely played a minor role in the decision by the Reinsdorf’s to begin a total revamping of the front office. Their GM search is already underway. Odds are whoever they end up hiring will decide to make a change at head coach, putting a merciful end to the Jim Boylen era. Hopes are high that this sort of move would be enough to convince Markkanen to give the team a little more time to get things right.
Recent word is Pacers GM Chad Buchanan declined an interview with the team, preferring to keep his family in Indianapolis. This will narrow their focus Nuggets GM Arturas Karnisovas, Raptors GM Bobby Webster, and Heat vice president of basketball operations Adam Simon. The process will likely play out in the next few weeks until ownership finds the guy they think can get things back on track.
