By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The December 21 deadline has passed without an an extension agreement between Lauri Markkanen and the Chicago Bulls. The Finnish forward will thus hit the 2021 offseason as a restricted free agent.
Per the Chicago Tribune, the Bulls were “hesitant” to provide Markkanen with the deal he wanted and the player wasn’t up to signing a smaller contract.
At 23 years of age, Markkanen, the Bulls’ 7th overall pick in 2017, will now enter his fourth season in the NBA knowing that his performances will affect his market value next summer. In 2019-2020, he averaged 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 50 games, seeing a small decline in his numbers in comparison with 2018-2019 (18.7 points, 9.0 rebounds).