Jim Boylen was very clear about the mission statement over the summer.
Yet, it’s still mostly been slow-played.
Expect that to change ad nauseam once training camp begins next week, as the entire Bulls organization will join the coach in making that plan very public.
Simply put, it’s sink or swim time on Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine to take that next step to super stardom.
Look at the current roster make-up.
Look at how the salaries are set up.
Dissect this offseason’s free agency.
It all screams make-or-break for the two players, even if the Bulls really haven’t been.
“We believe in them,’’ Boylen said of the two after the free-agent frenzy subsided this past summer. “I think it’s a statement of belief. I think we’ve made a commitment to this roster build out. Again, I use that kind of saying that they’ve got to take their crown and they’ve got to run with it. They’ve got to wear it, they’ve got to own it, and they’ve got to do it. We think they can.’’
And Boylen has made that message very clear to both LaVine and Markkanen throughout this offseason, even going over to Finland to visit with Markkanen and make sure he understood the expectations sitting on his newly buffed-up shoulders.
LaVine was in and out of town this offseason for different training blocks, but also had that message delivered to him numerous times.
“We have honored where we think Zach and Lauri can go, and we’ve cleared a way for them to become what we hope they can be,’’ Boylen said.
The clock on that starts now.
LaVine was signed to an extension in the summer of 2018. He’ll be 27 when the deal ends after the 2021-22 season. The two big additions made in free agency this summer in Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky were also signed through the end of the ’22 season.
That’s a three-year window for LaVine to become NBA elite, with a supporting cast that already knows their role in all of this.
“We know [LaVine’s] our guy,’’ Young said. “He’s going to be the guy going forward. My thing is, just go out there and harness those skills, continue to be the leader that I am, continue to help him get better as a leader, get better as a player, and hopefully help him make the All-Star Game.’’
While Markkanen, who was drafted in 2017, is on a different pay-scale clock, the goal is identical to LaVine’s: Show the Bulls star power, and a max deal awaits. In Markkanen’s case, sooner than later as they could start talking extension after this season.
A big ask?
Not really, considering what Markkanen showed last February, when he averaged 26 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, while shooting just under 49 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three-point range.
Those are elite numbers, let alone for a 7-footer. Eleven games, however, is not an NBA 82-game season.
So while both have knocked on that door to becoming star pillars in this rebuild, the organization wants them to kick it in.
“I know they can,’’ Boylen said. “They’ve done it. What we want them to do is do it more consistently, and they’ve both had great moments in a Bulls uniform, a great month, a great streak of games, but now we’ve got to do it for 82. That’s my challenge, their challenge, and we’re going to do it together.’’
