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The 2020-21 Chicago Bulls were close to at least reaching the NBA Play-In tournament, but the team eventually missed a chance to be in the Eastern Conference's Top 10 during the regular season.
With a 31-41 record, it was difficult for Billy Donovan's Chicago Bulls to expect to enter the postseason or the newly created Play-In tournament. However, the team showed some competitiveness, which was rare in recent years.
Zach LaVine was surely the best player for the Chicago Bulls in the 2020-21 NBA regular season as he even deservedly made it to the 2021 All-Star Game.
Moreover, the front office was looking to improve the team and made a run to the NBA Playoffs, acquiring All-Star center Nikola Vucevic from the Orlando Magic at the trade deadline.
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3 players who might not be back with the Chicago Bulls for the 2021-22 NBA season
LaVine and Vucevic played together in 15 games after the trade and the team posted a 7-8 record in those games. The experiment still needs to be worked on for the 2021-22 NBA season, but the Chicago Bulls seem to be on the right track with that All-Star pair.
The team's front office will need to work on improving the squad in order to make the 2022 NBA Playoffs. There are some decisions to be made in the NBA off-season and players who could not return to the squad for the 2021-22 NBA season.
Still, having two All-Stars on the team is already a good sign for next year's Chicago Bulls.
In this article, we will look at three players that are unlikely to be in a Chicago Bulls' uniform next year.
Without further ado, let us start.
#3 Denzel Valentine
Denzel Valentine has played for the Chicago Bulls since the team selected him with the 14th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Now, with four NBA seasons played for the team, Valentine is a free agent for the second consecutive year, and he probably will not return to the Chicago Bulls for next year.
Valentine, a 6-3 shooting guard, appeared in 62 games last season and started only three times. Overall, he averaged 16.7 minutes per game under Billy Donovan, and he might not have a role next year as the Chicago Bulls look to upgrade the backcourt (if they can somehow fix the point guard issue generated by Coby White's shoulder injury).
Valentine averages 7.4 points per game in his career (232 games) and has shooting splits of 39/35/78 throughout his NBA journey.
#2 Daniel Theis
Daniel Theis became a member of the Chicago Bulls at the 2021 trade deadline and the German center is now an unrestricted free agent. Now, he might be unlikely to play for the Chicago Bulls next year, but it is because he might be a part of a sign-and-trade that helps the Bulls find some solutions to other glaring issues on the roster.
Theis, who played the first three and a half seasons of his NBA career with the Boston Celtics, is a solid center who could be on the radar of any contending team for next year. The Chicago Bulls might take advantage of that and possibly get a sign-and-trade scenario that is beneficial for them.
Theis averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds last year in 65 games with the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, while posting 54/32/67 shooting split. Moreover, he averaged around a block per game and made a career-best 49 threes last year.
#1 Lauri Markkanen
Lauri Markkanen's situation with the Chicago Bulls might be similar to Theis' at this point. Not only could he leave the Chicago Bulls via restricted free agency, but Markkanen could be used by the front office, led by Arturas Karnisovas, in another sign-and-trade scenario that could work for the franchise.
Markkanen will be a fifth-year NBA player next season and he has been a good offensive player whenever he's been available for the Chicago Bulls. He put up career-best numbers on offense last year after making 48% of his shots from the field and 40.2% of his three-pointers.
However, Markkanen lost his spot as a starter and averaged a career-low 25.8 minutes per game last year, a demonstration that his role with the Chicago Bulls might've come to an end.
In 221 career games, Markkanen averages 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game with 44/36/84 shooting splits. At age 24, he could still explode and become the player the Chicago Bulls expected when they selected him seventh overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. But that might happen with another franchise.
Also read: 3 Biggest needs the Chicago Bulls must address in the 2021 NBA offseason
