Lauri Markkanen swears that it’s looked good in practice.
On the court in games that matter for the Bulls? Sure, the Markkanen-Zach LaVine combination has far more incompletes than passing moments. Blame it on injury, as the two have seldom had long stints playing together since they each arrived for the 2017-18 season.
But Markkanen was only looking for big things from the two of them, starting Wednesday in Charlotte when the regular season tips off.
“I’m not worried,’’ Markkanen said. “We’ve been on the same team and practiced the whole time. We’ve come along really well. Now it’s just a matter of taking it across the street [to the United Center]. I think we’ve had good periods of time, but the next step for us is just doing it consistently.’’
That might be the best news for the Bulls as this season starts.
In Markkanen’s rookie season, LaVine was still sidelined in his recovery from anterior cruciate ligament surgery, and wasn’t ready to return to the court for months. Then last training camp, it was Markkanen that went down with a severe elbow injury that didn’t see his return until early December.
Both are healthy to start this season, so of course there is excitement around that.
“No promises, but that’s the goal, for sure,’’ Markkanen said, when asked about a playoff push this year.
Big aspirations? Maybe. That’s what finally having a healthy roster to start the season will do.
Only Chandler Hutchison (hamstring) is out for the opener in Charlotte, and coach Jim Boylen thought the forward would be back soon.
Good advice
Four out of five games on the road to start the season is usually a daunting task for an NBA team, but Boylen was leaning on his days working for Larry Bird in Indiana to put it in perspective.
“I think it’s great,’’ Boylen said. “We get on that plane and close the door, it’s a safe place for us. We go down there, it’s us on the road. I love that mentality. It’s a really good thing. But if we were having a home opener, I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing.
“We’re going to play them as they come. I worked for Larry Bird in Indiana and he’d always say it’s 41 home and 41 road. Get ready to play. That’s what we’re going to try to do.’’
Space jam
Veteran Otto Porter Jr. closed the preseason and training camp feeling pretty good about where the Bulls were as a team heading into the regular-season grind. Well, besides one area on the offensive end — spacing.
“There’s always room for improvement,’’ Porter said. “We just got to make sure we get our spacing down and transition it. Especially running this multi-ball-handler system, we want to make sure we have space. That’s a big thing. But then just executing our offense. I think that’s the biggest thing right now that we’re working on, making sure we run hard, set screens, be aggressive, attack the rim and kick out for open threes.’’
Max deal
The Bulls announced on Tuesday that they signed former DePaul guard Max Strus to a two-way contract, rounding out the roster for the start of the season.
The 6-foot-5 Strus went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft, then signing a deal with the Boston Celtics during the preseason. He played four games for Boston, averaging five points, two rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
A native of Hickory Hills, Ill., Strus began his collegiate career at Lewis University before transferring to DePaul after his sophomore season.
