Lauri Markkanen is comfortable enough with Arturas Karnisovas to simply walk up to the Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations and ask him if he might need to start stockpiling moving boxes the next few days.
What the Bulls forward wasn’t comfortable with?
Guessing if he’ll be moved by the Mar.25 trade deadline.
“I’m not making any predictions on that,’’ Markkanen said on Friday. “I’m going day-by-day and controlling what I can control. You’ve got a couple games here [on the road], and I’m just focusing on like I said before the season, that I’m 100 percent committed and that’s how it still is. So I’m not making any prediction on that.’’
The 7-foot forward may indeed be “committed’’ to staying a Bull, but the unknown remains will the feeling stay mutual?
The Bulls and Markkanen couldn’t reach a deal on an extension back at the December deadline, and as the Sun-Times reported at the time, the two sides couldn’t even get close. That meant that the former No. 7 overall pick would be a restricted free agent this offseason.
It didn’t seem like a major stumbling block at the time, especially with the Bulls well-versed in letting the market set the price on players in the past, and then deciding if they wanted to match it.
What has changed, however, is that more teams have freed up cap space for this upcoming offseason, Markkanen has been inconsistent, but has also shown some explosive moments, and then there’s the concerns about the current make-up of the Bulls roster.
With Wendell Carter Jr. losing his starting center job and looking overwhelmed against certain opposing fives at times, coach Billy Donovan has been trying to transition him to the four a bit more. That has been met with some growing pains, but if Carter does show improvement in that area, does that make either Markkanen or Carter expendable?
As of Friday, a source said the Bulls remain very quiet on their intentions or Karnisovas is just really good at silencing trade talk espionage.
The Sun-Times reported last month that there’s a heavy market on Thad Young, but Karnisovas seems willing to keep him or at least try and drive the price up on the veteran.
There’s no question, however, that Markkanen fits the role of a second trade option for the Bulls.
And it’s good that he feels comfortable enough to talk to Karnisovas or Donovan about it. Unlike the former regime, this group believes in being completely transparent with the players.
“If there’s anything I’m aware of that I get asked about, I’ve always believed you’ve got to be honest and truthful in those kinds of things,’’ Donovan said. “They are most of the time rumors and speculation, things that are out there. I’ve told our team this on multiple occasions when they’ve been together: You look at different things that these guys are dealing with right now, from the constant testing, to the condensed schedule, all the things. There’s a lot of things they’ve got to deal with, and now you’re coming up on a trade deadline. And it’s so easy to start to think and wonder and hear certain things, and I’ve told them Arturas is a straight-up honest, really, really good person, if you’ve got a concern just go to him. And just ask him flat-out. I think that’s the only way to do it is to be totally transparent and honest.
“Just walk up the stairs and sit down and have a conversation. I think that’s the best way to deal with it. … Just go to the source that’s dealing with it on a regular basis. Arturas is an honest straight-up guy, and he’ll give them exactly what’s going on. I respect that part about him, and I think Arturas wants that from the players as well.’’
