Chicago Bulls (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bulls are amidst a lot of change internally, which is good, but will Lauri Markkanen stick around?
Even though the regular season is up in the air due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Chicago Bulls have had an eventful week. Just a few days ago, it was announced that a major shakeup was coming at the top of the organization.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news that Chicago will begin searching for a new front office executive. This person will be in charge of basketball operations and decision-making, which is good news for fans.
But, is it good enough news for young forward Lauri Markkanen?
Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times wrote just two days ago that he believes Markkanen would “rather be elsewhere” if there are not big enough changes within the organization soon.
What exactly does that mean, though?
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The Bulls are headed for big changes already, and hopefully when they find their new executive, that person has a strong enough plan in place going forward. If I was to put myself in Markkanen’s shoes, I would see a fairly obvious agenda for the organization.
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First up, Jim Boylen has to go. Everybody knows it, except John Paxson — who will still remain with the Bulls, but the team’s new executive will have the decision-making power. Boylen is not cut out to be a head coach in today’s NBA for many reasons, and even fans see how blatantly obvious this is. So, that’s step number one. Boylen has to go.
Second, this new executive obviously has to find the perfect replacement for Boylen; someone who can come in and promote a positive culture, winning basketball and a new-age style of play like the rest of the league is adapting to.
Third, and this may take some time, the Bulls’ new executive has to find a way to bring in outside talent via free agency. There has to be a belief from larger name free agents that the Bulls are, in fact, headed in the right direction — finally.
If whomever the Bulls choose to come in and take the reins can implement this type of plan, my assumption is that Markkanen would stay. However, I believe many Bulls players are in the same shoes as he is. Who wants to stick around amidst this hilarity, anyways?
The Bulls have been a laughing stock for a while now, and no player wants to be a part of that. No matter how hard they try to keep their cool, stay humble and stay committed to the team first (like Zach LaVine has reiterated over the past year), there’s just no way a professional basketball player wants to stick with an organization like the current Bulls.
Something has to change, and hopefully this new executive has a drastic plan in place from the get-go, or else we’re in for even more embarrassment and additional losing seasons.