Chicago Bulls: What Arturas Karnisovas’ priorities should be?

3. Determine the franchise cornerstone(s)

On the heels of another disappointing first-round playoff exit in 2017, the Bulls decided it was time to start from scratch. With that in mind, they sent Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the rights to the No. 7 overall pick — Lauri Markkanen.

While Dunn was considered the superior defensive player of the trio, it was LaVine and Markkanen that were touted as the future cornerstones of the franchise. Unfortunately, things have not gone according to plan.

During their first year in the Windy City, their time on the court was severely limited as LaVine appeared in just 24 games due to an ACL injury that kept him on the shelf for 11 months. In 2018-19, although Markkanen posted solid numbers (18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest), he missed the first 23 games of the season and 30 overall.

Both players have proven they can play well from an individual standpoint, but they haven’t been able to effectively co-exist on the court in the way the organization had hoped for. Moreover, both fail to make the grade at the defensive end of the court.

LaVine is ranked 48th among point guards in defensive real plus-minus, while Markkanen comes in at No. 64 among power forwards.

To make things even more interesting, LaVine is averaging a career-best 25.5 points per contest on slash lines of .450/.380/.802. Meanwhile, Markkanen’s numbers (14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per outing) are down from a year ago and it’s been reported that he’s not happy about the way he’s being utilized this season. He’s taking a career-low 11.8 shots per game, with over half of those attempts coming from 3-point range (6.3).

Taking those factors into consideration, it will be interesting to see if Karnisovas will try to retain both players or opt to send one of them packing.