Kris Dunn didn’t receive a qualifying offer and is in Atlanta. Wendell Carter is in Orlando. Chandler Hutchison and Daniel Gafford are in Washington.
And Lauri Markkanen is now coming off the bench—in a contract year, to boot.
It’s not like Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley aren’t utilizing the work that John Paxson and Gar Forman left them. Zach LaVine is an All-Star. Thad Young and Tomáš Satoranský are starting and playing crucial, veteran roles. Though Coby White missed his first NBA game Monday night with a sore neck, he remains a valuable reserve.
But with each passing day in this season of evaluation, particularly when it comes to former lottery picks or return from the Jimmy Butler trade, the roster overhaul is happening.
Markkanen became the latest casualty, coming off the bench for just the second time in 194 career games and first time when it didn’t represent his first game back following a lengthy injury absence.
In a nod to Daniel Theis making his Bulls debut, coach Billy Donovan paired a shooter with a defensive-minded player. That meant Young started alongside Nikola Vučević and Markkanen played mostly with Theis.
Markkanen finished with 13 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes, solid numbers for reserve minutes. But a season that began with Markkanen seeking long-term security now has featured him dangled in trade talks, coming off the bench and headed to restricted free agency.
“I’m a team guy. I understand it,” Markkanen said. “And of course it’s a little — what was this, my second game off the bench? So the rhythm of the game is a little bit different. But I’ll do whatever I can.
“I mean, I feel like we’re all competitors and you always want to start. I feel like that’s how everybody feels. And I know I’m a starter in this league. But I’m gonna play my role. I know Coach has a lot to handle with the new guys coming and so it’s gonna be an adjustment.”
Donovan said Markkanen handled the demotion “great,” calling him “incredibly professional and all about the team.” He cited the need for “proper spacing” so “teams aren’t loaded up” on the Bulls as the main reason, while also mentioning the desire for rim protection with the two pairings.
And Donovan also sounded like a coach who is prepared to try these pairings for awhile.
“Obviously, I think our team has changed. We have four really unique and good frontcourt players,” Donovan said. “I just thought that Lauri is a guy because of his ability to shoot and his skill level who can play with any one of those three guys. And I thought from an experience standpoint and physicality standpoint throwing Thad in there because of the way Vooch can spread the floor it allows those guys to kind of play off each other.”
While emphasizing he can play with anyone, Vučević largely agreed.
“I think Thad and I, we maybe fit a little better together on the court. We obviously both are very experienced players so that’s easier for us because we have played before and I think our games fit a little better,” he said, citing their time together with the 76ers. “But also, with Lauri in the second unit, it gives the second unit more offensive power as well and helps him. We also both like to pop so sometimes it doesn’t work so well.
“I think Coach is going to be trying out different lineups and see how that works. I think it’s also difficult for certain guys to have to play a little different role or different rotations. As much as it’s new for me, it’s also for everybody else here. We all need to figure it out and get comfortable with each other.”
It’s hard to imagine Markkanen ever getting fully comfortable with not starting. Sure, he’s a team-first guy. But he also turned down a lucrative contract extension to bet on himself. He’s shooting career-high numbers and expected a big year, not to be closing blowout losses with Devon Dotson, Cristiano Felicio, Javonte Green and Troy Brown Jr.
At least on this night, Markkanen said all the right things. But this development will do little to quiet the notion that he could be elsewhere when restricted free agency ends. After all, teams don’t pay big money for reserves.
“I mean, he had his reasons. And like I said I haven’t questioned him at all the whole year. I trust Billy,” Markkanen said. “I know I can start and that’s how I’ve been playing. But I’m really not gonna do anything that’s gonna harm the team. I think we are all tired of losing and we’re just trying to get better at that. I mean, it hasn’t been working for us too well so we gotta change something.
“It’s disappointing personally, but it is part of it and just I’m gonna do whatever I can do to help the team and control what I can control.”
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