Chicago Bulls: Kris Dunn, Lauri Markkanen make Rising Stars Challenge

Two standout young Chicago Bulls, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen, just made the All-Star Weekend Rising Stars Challenge.

In the first year of their rebuild, the Chicago Bulls have received a few pleasant surprises from some of the rebuild’s key young players, second-year guard Kris Dunn and rookie forward Lauri Markkanen.

Add the Rising Stars Challenge to the list of positives they’ve produced for the hometown fans.

Dunn and Markkanen were selected to compete in the All-Star Weekend showcase for top young players in the league, which will include names like Lonzo Ball, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

Markkanen will compete on Team World, being originally from Finland, while Kris Dunn will play for Team USA.

This is a huge moment for two players who seemed to have been written off before the season even started.

The draft selection of Markkanen was surrounded by a lot of doubts about his ability, physicality and potential as an NBA player. Meanwhile, many questioned if Dunn could even start in the NBA following his disappointing rookie campaign in Minnesota.

Both of these players have played exceptionally well up to this point in the season, and the honor of representing Chicago in the Rising Stars Challenge is a result of the hard work that they have put in to prove the doubters wrong.

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Dunn has had a resurgent sophomore season, averaging 13.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 6.4 assists while Markkanen has placed himself in the running for the Rookie of the Year award, averaging 15.5 points and 7.7 rebounds a game while shooting 36% on 3-pointers.

The stats are impressive, but the icing on the cake is how they’ve helped the Chicago Bulls rebound from a dreadful 3-20 start.

Nikola Mirotić, who also has played in the Rising Stars Challenge, deserves some props for this recent stretch of winning too, but Markkanen and Dunn deserve a lot of credit as well.

The two Bulls will face each other on February 16th in the Staples Center, and Markkanen is “glad” that he can compete against his teammate under the bright lights in Los Angeles. Winning this game and outplaying your teammate could bag you some bragging rights in the locker room for the rest of the season.

Dunn has been out since January 17th in a loss to the Warriors after dislocating two teeth and suffering a concussion on a scary fall after a dunk.

Despite this, he will be good to go for the Rising Stars game next month. Markkanen should also be good to play as he has had no major injuries and has been playing very well as of late.

Next: Lauri Markkanen will be an All-Star soon

While being selected for the Rising Stars Challenge doesn’t seem that important, it can provide a confidence boost for young players like Dunn and Markkanen and gives them an opportunity to be rewarded for their transition to the NBA.

Plus, seeing their young players recognized this way must give Chicago Bulls fans a reason to look forward to the future.