Chicago Bulls: Bull fight brewing between Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine?

Is another player conflict brewing inside the Chicago Bulls’ locker room?  A recent report suggests two players are on a collision course.

The Chicago Bulls are not far removed from an offseason of turmoil.  Bobby Portis delivered a haymaker to Nikola Mirotic’s face, breaking multiple bones.  As a result, Mirotic missed the first 23 games of the season.  It took a substantial amount of time for the team to begin to move on from the incident.  Before the team completely healed, the Bulls traded Mirotic.

Now, just as they have put that conflict in the rear-view mirror, a new feud appears to be on the horizon.  In a story posted today, Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago gave a fascinating account of the current climate within the team’s locker room.

In the article, Goodwill describes a potential conflict brewing between Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine.  He describes an environment in which each player is trying to assert themselves as the alpha-dog of the team.  As the Chicago Bulls prepare themselves to likely draft inside the top five, they will surely be bringing in another strong personality.  Players drafted in the top five typically come in thinking they should also be the “go-to” guy.

This post will not recount the specifics of the relationship between Dunn and LaVine.  For those interested, I highly recommend giving Goodwill’s article a read to learn more about the details of this potential feud.  However, it prompted me to consider which player should emerge as the alpha-dog of this team.  Below I give a few reasons why Kris Dunn should be that player.

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Kris Dunn is a natural leader

During his time at Providence College, Kris Dunn established himself as a leader by example.  As I captured in a previous post, the New London, Connecticut native has overcome an incredible amount of adversity in his life.  Dunn has battled through hardships both on and off the court to emerge a stronger person and player.  He has a captivating personality and an infectious spirit.

Dunn battled through multiple shoulder injuries while at Providence.  He also put a disappointing rookie season behind him and joined the Chicago Bulls with a determination to be the player he knew he could.

Even the coaching staff is looking for Dunn to take a more assertive role as leader of the team.  In fact, Fred  Hoiberg famously told Dunn that “as you go, we go.”  Hoiberg recognizes two things: first that Dunn is a natural leader capable of running this offense.  He has an ability to galvanize the team.  Second, he understands in general that the point guard is the de facto leader on the court.  Therefore, as the point guard Dunn should be the one to either take the last shot or decide who takes the last shot.

Lauri Markkanen effect

Without question, Lauri Markkanen is the future of this organization.  The number seven pick has exceeded the wildest expectations of even the biggest Chicago Bulls superfan.  In fact, if you were to re-draft the 2017 NBA Draft, Markkanen could very well be the second overall pick.

So what does this have to do with Dunn?  Well, to be frank, Dunn is more important to Markkanen’s success than Zach LaVine.  Kris Dunn runs the pick and roll and pick and pop extremely well.  His ability to do so is a natural fit with Markkanen’s skillset.  Markkanen can space the floor and work from the outside.  With his size, he can just as easily mix it up down low.  Throughout the year Dunn has demonstrated his ability to get Markkanen the ball in a position from which he can score.

When Zach LaVine returned from injury, the focus was on how Hoiberg would incorporate him into the offense and ensure enough touches for he and Markkanen.  If you’ve been watching the Bulls more recently, you’ve noticed that LaVine has been a bit of a vortex.  The ball is not moving as crisply and the offense seems to stall once he gets the ball in his hands.  In particular, his last six games have been atrocious, with a +/- of -29, +3, -20, -8, -17, -30.  respectively.  Granted Dunn’s numbers over that same timeframe aren’t much better, but remember, he just missed significant time with a concussion.  Over the course of the year, the offense has run more efficiently with Dunn on the floor.

If the Bulls have to choose between facilitating Markkanen’s game versus facilitating LaVine’s game, they are most certainly going to choose Markkanen.  Markkanen is the future of this franchise and the team will be built around him.

Zach LaVine set to become a free agent

As mentioned above, this is Markkanen’s team.  All future personnel decisions will be made with that in mind.  This is especially true in free agency, where the Bulls will look to add players who compliment Markkanen’s game.

Ironically, LaVine himself will become a restricted free agent this summer.  At that time, the Chicago Bulls will have an extremely difficult decision to make.  Do they open up the checkbook and reward LaVine with a lucrative contract?  He is likely going to command a substantial deal.  He could even be looking for a max deal (five years/$146 million).  Giving him a max deal would be a colossal mistake.  However, it is not unrealistic to think he is going to get something in the range of four to five years at an average of around $18-20 million per year.

First, that type of contract could significantly hamper the Bulls flexibility in future free agency periods.  Not to beat a dead horse, but the Bulls will want to build around Markkanen.  Giving LaVine that kind of contract will limit their ability to do so.  That type of contract would signal that LaVine is the centerpiece of the team.  I just can’t imagine a scenario where that happens.

Second, LaVine is coming off a serious ACL injury.  Do the Bulls feel comfortable giving him that kind of deal off an injury like that?  Additionally, have they seen enough of him to even make that determination?  If you are basing the decision off of how he has performed this season, I would argue the answer is “no.”

Next: Bulls warned by commissioner Silver

Bottom Line

Unfortunately, it appears this young Bulls team might be headed straight towards more internal conflict.  Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen could be in for a literal and figurative “Bull fight.”  However, as important as Markannen’s future success is to this franchise, it is hard not to imagine Dunn coming out victorious.