Even 76ers big man Joel Embiid, the champion of Twitter trolling, acknowledged Lauri Markkanen's tweet last week in which the Bulls forward posted a picture of himself on draft night with the Timberwolves logo in the background and a #tbt hashtag for "Throwback Thursday".
BRUH, Embiid tweeted, quoting Markkanen's post.
Asked about it Monday, Markkanen smiled.
"I thought Bulls fans would love it," he said. "And it was just harmless fun. No shots taken."
But Markkanen, like Zach LaVine, did admit to following the Timberwolves drama after Jimmy Butler requested a trade and tension between ownership and coach Tom Thibodeau played out.
"It's tough," LaVine said. "I appreciate my time in Minnesota. They drafted me. I grew up there. I wish them nothing but the best. Everybody goes through some adversity, good or bad decisions. Either way, I think they'll be OK."
Bulls management, which was widely panned for trading Butler and the rights to Justin Patton for LaVine, Kris Dunn and the rights to Markkanen, steered toward the high road as well.
"We obviously respect Jimmy as a player," executive vice president John Paxson said. "We know how great he is. He did a lot of really good things for the organization. But that's not our concern. We moved on. We have too much to worry about internally to become a better team.
"It's never about vindication. We did exactly what we thought was the right thing for the organization last year. We were comfortable then, and we're comfortable now."
