Donovan says he had role ready for Markkanen this season
It will be a night of fresh starts Tuesday at the United Center when the Bulls host their preseason opener against Cleveland.
There will be no limit on the number of fans allowed inside the building for the first time in 18 months, and the Bulls will be launching a vastly different roster from the one that began last season.
On top of all that, former Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen will make his debut with the Cavaliers. Denzel Valentine is another ex-Bull currently with the Cavs.
Asked about Markkanen at Monday's practice, coach Billy Donovan made it sound like he wanted the 7-foot Finland native to return for a fifth season with the Bulls.
"I personally felt, and I told him this, with the trades and everything that happened after free agency, I felt like there would be a real important role for him here," Donovan said.
"I think it was pretty clear he felt like he needed a change. Why or what, he never really got into that with me."
Donovan thought he had a pretty good relationship with Markkanen during the season they spent together, but he couldn't speak to all the coaching changes, roster changes and injuries Markkanen endured during his first three years in Chicago.
Markkanen's sophomore season in 2018-19, when he averaged 18.7 points and 9 rebounds, seemed to have him on the path to becoming an all-star, but his numbers slid during the next two years. The one high point was shooting a career-high 40.2% from 3-point range last season.
"I think because of his talent level, everybody always wanted a little bit more," Donovan said. "But I always felt like what he gave our team, I really valued it. I thought he did a good job, and I felt like he and I connected and communicated pretty well."
Markkanen, a restricted free agent this summer, asked for a sign-and-trade to a new location and eventually got his wish. The Bulls received forward Derrick Jones Jr. and a future first-round pick from Portland as part of the three-way deal.
"I'm good to go," Markkanen told reporters in Cleveland this week, according to cleveland.com. "I'm motivated going into the year. I think we have a really good group of guys here, good staff. I think we're going to be a fun team to watch."
As the No. 7 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Markkanen obviously was seen as a key piece to the Bulls' ill-fated rebuild. The No. 2 pick that year was new Bull Lonzo Ball, who is now on his third NBA team.
"I just think everybody's path is different," Ball said Monday at the Advocate Center. "You've got to find your way however you've got to find it. This is my third team; it's his next team. Everybody's different."
Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman made a comment this week that sums up Markkanen's plight with the Bulls. Whether they drafted the wrong guy or developed him poorly, this will go down in Bulls history as a bad miss.
"If you told me two years ago that we'd have a chance to acquire him, you would be crazy," Altman said, according to cleveland.com. "He's so talented. He's so skilled. He complements what we want to do."
A combination of factors led to Markkanen's disappointing tenure with the Bulls.
He had to deal with three head coaches and three different offensive systems in four years, he had a series of injuries that caused him to miss significant time, and once he began to blossom in February 2019, opponents started playing more physical against him.
It's a common story in the NBA these days, another reason why the Bulls' decision to rebuild through the draft in 2017 was so misguided. There were more misses than hits among the 2017 lottery picks. Donovan Mitchell at No. 13 and Jayson Tatum at No. 3 have been the most successful.
Now that the Bulls have a more veteran group, Donovan expects the regulars to play significant minutes in the preseason so they can build some chemistry. Tuesday's game will mark Bulls debuts of Ball, Jones, DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Alize Johnson, Tony Bradley, rookies Ayo Dosunmu and Marko Simonovic, along with a few others.
"My feeling is to try to make sure those guy, certainly the main veteran guys, get a good run, just because I think four preseason games is not a lot," Donovan said. "It is a new group. So I think them playing with each other a good portion of the game will be important."
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