The Chicago Bulls have until December 21st to decide whether or not Lauri Markkanen deserves an extension on his rookie contract.
To extend or not to extend, that is the question for the Chicago Bulls.
Whether ’tis nobler…
No, I’m not finishing that. However, the question of extending Lauri Markkanen is a prevalent one, and it falls on Bulls executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley.
The Bulls and the rest of the NBA were informed that the last day to extend rookie contracts would be December 21st, the day before 2020 opening night, and that puts the new front office in a precarious situation.
Markkanen is in the last year of his rookie deal (save for a qualifying fifth-year option if he isn’t extended) and is yet to perform consistently enough to earn a massive deal that, not long ago, was pretty much his for the taking.
Anybody else remember that February? That was the Lauri Markkanen that was in the conversation to receive a max extension when the time came.
That first game of the season where he put up 35 and 17; what happened to that guy?
This year, Lauri was a ghost in the Boylen offense outside of that first game, just wandering out on the perimeter and shooting a subpar percentage from deep to compliment his career-low numbers in scoring, rebounding and nearly everything else.
On top of all of the inconsistent play is his lack of availability. The former first-round selection has yet to play a complete 82 game season, only playing in 170 of a possible 229 games due to a number of injuries.
Beyond that, Markkanen’s defensive capabilities have been nonexistent. His ability to guard smaller guards and wings is lacking, opposing bigs usually own him in the paint, and those issues are exaggerated when he isn’t doing anything offensively.
