Bulls players make big plans for summer workouts
Before the last home game of the regular season, many of the Bulls discussed plans for summer workouts.
Zach LaVine will return to his hometown of Seattle, where the indoor-outdoor workout space and obstacle course at his parents' house will show some improvements.
"My dad, he said he has some surprises for me with some of the weight room changes," LaVine said. "I think he put a sand pit in."
LaVine said any and all Bulls teammates are welcome to join him. He suggested the best part of the workout area is a 50-yard football field, which might interest ex-Bull Jimmy Butler.
"I gave them open invitations to come out to Seattle," LaVine said. "I have a big house out there. I've got a lot of bedrooms. If not, there's a Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons in downtown Seattle they can stay at and we can get our work in. Get on the lake and get some good food too."
Meanwhile, plans are in place for coach Jim Boylen to visit Lauri Markkanen in Finland, something he's already done the past two summers.
"It means a lot to me to have coach fly over and build chemistry, and of course we're going to work out a little bit on things he thinks I need to improve," Markkanen said.
So what's the first thing Markkanen shows a first-time visitor to Finland.
"How clean of a country it is," he said. "Show the nature, visit a Finnish sauna, maybe get some reindeer, I don't know."
A United Nations report named Finland the world's happiest country two years in a row. Is that accurate?
"Don't I look happy?" Markkanen said with a laugh. "They don't show it, but I think we're pretty happy."
Boylen bummed about end:
It may be a relief to many, but coach Jim Boylen is sorry to see the Bulls' season end.
"I'm bummed out," he said before Tuesday's game. "This has been a blast. And our guys have been great. I told them yesterday, our last contact practice, how hard they've worked and how much we've practiced and the number of after-a-game-contact practices. And they've done everything I've asked them to do.
"That makes me want to keep going, keep getting better. But we haven't earned that. Hopefully, that hurts us and gives us a sense of purpose this summer. I know it does for me. Hopefully, we're not in this position again."
Boylen also said he's excited as heck about the team's future.
Shaq knows baseball:
Shaq Harrison had an indirect role in the Cubs slow start. His younger brother Monte, an outfielder, was part of the trade that brought NL MVP Christian Yelich to the Milwaukee Brewers last year.
"Honestly, when we first started out, I loved baseball and he loved basketball," Harrison said before Tuesday's game. "So it was just crazy how it flipped over."
Now Monte Harrison is one of the top prospects for the Miami Marlins and started the season in Triple A.
"He'll be in New Orleans. I'm actually going to visit him next week," Shaq said. "Hopefully he won't be down there too long, he'll get the call-up soon."