Chicago Bulls: 5 goals for Lauri Markkanen’s rookie season

The Chicago Bulls acquired Lauri Markkanen in a draft-night trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here are five realistic goals for his rookie season.

The Chicago Bulls have been to the playoffs in eight of the last 10 seasons. However, those postseason trips were often short-lived. In fact, aside from the conference finals appearance back in 2011, the Bulls have been eliminated in the conference semifinals twice, and have suffered five first round exits.

So while the Bulls have been in the playoff race on an annual basis over the last decade, the front office finally made the decision to take the team in a different direction. An integral part of the transition process took place on draft night, when they dealt Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick — Lauri Markkanen.

The last time the Bulls were involved in a draft-night trade was back in 2014. In that instance, they gave up a pair of first round picks for Doug McDermott, only to trade him halfway through his third NBA season.

Markkanen recently signed his rookie contract and if he’s going to succeed at the next level, these are the goals he should focus on for the 2017-18 season.