Chicago Bulls: 3 players to trade this coming offseason

2. Forward Lauri Markkanen

To some, this might be a hot take. But, I don’t believe you can build a franchise around Lauri Markkanen. The 23-year-old forward has had plenty of time to bloom, but he simply hasn’t. Part of that might be coaching, but it’s clear Markkanen hasn’t progressed much since his rookie season.

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His sophomore year, Markkanen’s minutes went up a little, thus propelling him to a career-best 18.7 points per game. But, his three ball still doesn’t look like we once thought it would — and that’s a part of his game he continues to use at a high volume.

Markkanen will be entering the final year of his rookie deal when the 2020-2021 season begins, and if the Bulls are content in moving on once his contract is up, a trade makes sense. Instead of moving on in the summer of 2021, the Bulls would be wise to net something in return for Markkanen.

There are definitely coaches and general managers out there who would be willing to pay a young stretch forward still with plenty of potential. However, though he has potential, I think part of Karnisovas’ plan could be to take a year or two off in effort to really rebuild through the draft.

Selling Markkanen would hopefully net an additional first-round pick — maybe it’s a mid-to-late pick, but a first rounder nonetheless.