Bulls coach Billy Donovan said on Monday that he let Markkanen know after the season that he would have an important role if he stayed, but the damage was done and the 7-footer wanted a fresh start. From what exactly? That’s the unknown.
Most of the Lauri Markkanen four-year experience undoubtedly falls under the category of enigma.
So it was only fitting that his departure from the Bulls this offseason was riddled with more questions than answers.
The 7-footer, who showed a unicorn ceiling early in career, is now with a Cleveland team that the Bulls will play twice in the preseason — starting Tuesday night — as well as four times in the regular season. Along the way don’t expect to ever get full clarity on what exactly happened to the 2017 first-round pick in his time with the Bulls.
“I think it was pretty clear from what he felt, and he felt like he needed a change,’’ Bulls coach Billy Donovan said on Monday, when discussing the one season he had with Markkanen. “Why or what, he never really got into that with me. I personally felt, and I told him this, with the trades and everything that happened after free agency [this summer], that I felt like there would be a real important role for him here. But there were things he maybe didn’t want to get into with me that maybe transpired over the three years before that, maybe leading up to this.’’
And so the Bulls sent him to the Cavaliers in a three-way trade that granted Markkanen’s wishes.
All that’s left is locker room talk and speculation.
The Sun-Times reported on several occasions that Markkanen grew very unhappy with the Bulls under former coach Jim Boylen. He didn’t like what his role in the offense became, and privately let the media know that, especially during the 2019-20 season.
He once joked about being a 7-foot decoy under Boylen, and complained that the front office and analytics department stripped him of his mid-range game.
But when Donovan took over that should have been new life for Markkanen. He was getting a coach that appreciated his complete offensive arsenal, as well as a system in which the ball moved. Through his first 12 games under Donovan, it seemed like that new life was found, as Markkanen scored 20 points or more in half of them, and twice hit 30-plus.
A shoulder injury sidelined the for more than a month in February, however, and when he did return he did so to a team that was about to change. Added were Nikola Vucevic and Daniel Theis at the trade deadline, as the Bulls opted to go big and physical, and Markkanen was headed to the bench.
“I don’t want to speculate or talk for him, but from my experience last year I don’t think there was any question that when his rhythm got broken with that shoulder injury and missing all the first half of the season, and then coming back and having four-to-six games to maybe try and get back into a rhythm and then the trade deadline happened, and our team changed, he never, ever got back,’’ Donovan said.
“I always felt like what he gave our team I really valued it. I felt like he and I connected and communicated pretty well, but I do think there was something there that he felt like he needed a fresh start, and never really got into it with me.’’
Planning stages
Donovan wasn’t sure about a starting rotation for Game 1 of the preseason yet, but did know that he wanted to play the veteran guys some solid minutes against the Cavs.
“[Get them] a good run just because I think four preseason games is not a lot,’’ Donovan said. “It is a new group, so I think them playing with each other a good portion of the game would be important.’’
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3l4UE7n
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