"Interested in" season rolls along, and the latest player the Mavericks are being linked to is Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen.
According to Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, Dallas is one of four teams that have shown interest in the 24-year-old restricted free agent, along with Boston, New Orleans and Minnesota.
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How the Mavs would pull off such a move is where things get complicated, though. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Mavs would like to get involved by using their trade exception, which tops out at "roughly $11 million per season for four years."
However, Markkanen could simply accept his one-year, $9 million qualifying offer with the Bulls and hit unrestricted free agency after next season in search of a larger salary. Chicago also reportedly wants a first-round pick to facilitate any trade, complicating Marrkanen's market even further.
Markkanen, a 7-foot stretch power forward, had his most efficient season shooting-wise last year (58.2% on twos, 40.2% on threes), but also had career lows in minutes per game (25.8), points per game (13.6) and rebounds per game (5.3). He has battled injuries throughout his career, including missing 21 games last year.
Markkanen was somewhat surprisingly not included in the Bulls' trade to get DeMar DeRozan from San Antonio, and he is reportedly unhappy with his situation in Chicago.
But given the complications for any suitor to acquire Markkanen, Fischer reports that "there's a belief among many league personnel" that Markkanen will be forced to settle for the one-year qualifying offer.
So, file this one under "unlikely" for the Mavs for now, but perhaps they'll surprise us.
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