(670 The Score) A day after failing to reach an extension off his rookie-scale contract, Bulls big man Lauri Markkanen on Tuesday expressed his disappointment.
“Obviously disappointing,” Markkanen said. “I wanted to get a deal done, but it happens. We're moving on. I'm 100% committed to this team. We keep moving forward. We'll see what happens."
Markkanen, 23, acknowledged he “wasn’t very close” to reaching a deal with the Bulls, who are led by the new front office regime of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley. Financial figures of what each side desired haven’t been publicly reported, but a few of Markkanen’s classmates in the 2017 draft agreed to extensions Monday that reflected where the market sat for players of his caliber.
Magic forward Jonathan Isaac ($20 million average annually), Spurs guard Derrick White ($18.25 million annually), Raptors wing OG Anunoby ($18 million annually) and Clippers wing Luke Kennard ($16 million annually) were among the promising-but-not-star players who stayed with their team on multi-year extensions. By doing so, they avoided the restricted free agency process that Markkanen will now enter next summer, when he'll be free to sign an offer sheet with any team and the Bulls will have matching rights.
On a number of occasions, Markkanen has shared his desire to play in Chicago for the long term, even going as far as to say back in early December that he was exerting pressure on his agent to get a deal done with the Bulls.
“It just wasn't something I would take and that's the end of it,” Markkanen said of the Bulls’ undisclosed offer. “So we move forward and we got our first game tomorrow, so that's what we're focused on.
“I feel like I did everything I could towards that, and I thought we would get something done. But it didn't happen, and we're living with it.”
Markkanen is coming off a poor season, which surely factored into the Bulls’ hardline stance in negotiations. He averaged 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds on 42.5% shooting last season, which were all career-low marks.
With the Bulls’ regular-season opener looming against the Hawks on Wednesday evening, Markkanen’s sights are now set on raising his level of play. If he does that, he should then get the contract that he desires.
“It’s another motivation for me,” Markkanen said of earning his next contract with his play this season. “Obviously it's not the main thing, but obviously it fuels my fire to play even harder and do what this team needs me to do.
“I didn't play up to my abilities last year in my opinion, so that's the main thing. And I think we're moving in the right direction with the team right now, and that's my main focus.”
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.