What I Want to See Next Season, Satoransky Wins 6th Czech Basketball Player of the Year Award, and Other Bulls Bullets

I went to IKEA yesterday to buy a chair only to find out the box wouldn’t fit into my car. After numerous attempts to Tetris it into the vehicle, I decided to just unbox it in the parking lot. As people drove by, they saw an angry, sweaty man cursing and clawing at cardboard. And those same people probably doubted that I’d walk away successful. Well, guess where I’m sitting as I type these bullets?

Elias 1, IKEA 0

•   I have a long list of things I want to see happen in the 2020-21 NBA season, but I think these might be my top three (in no particular order): An active trade deadline, a fixed Lauri Markkanen, and a healthy roster. While a playoff appearance and a LaVine All-Star nod are somewhere in the mix, I feel like seeing those three things would give us our best understanding of the future. Thaddeus Young and Otto Porter are both proven vets who should draw interest from contenders. And, depending on how well they play and how desperate the other team is, the Bulls could grab themselves a nice return package. Whether it’s draft assets or a couple of plug-and-play roster pieces, this should tell us at least something about how Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley view this roster moving forward.

•   In the meantime, I’m begging the basketball gods for a fully healthy season of Bulls basketball. I’ve never accepted injuries as an excuse, but it’s simply a fact that this current version of the Bulls roster has played very few minutes together. Markkanen, Carter Jr., LaVine, and White only clocked 125 minutes together this season (Coby White’s bench role played into that, but injuries to Markkanen and Carter Jr. also had an impact). Additionally, the four-man lineup of LaVine, Carter Jr., Markkanen, and Porter has only played 134 minutes total since Porter came to town in February of 2019. Since he’ll likely be out of town after this season, I think it’s less important to know how Porter fits into everything, but that’s still ridiculous. Anyway, to understand whom the Bulls should work with moving forward, this next season has to be a healthy one.

•   How could Markkanen not be near the top of the list? The 22-year-old is up for an extension this offseason, and whether his camp gets it done or not, Year 4 will be the most important of his career. If he inks a deal with the new front office, he’ll have to prove he was worth keeping around. If he doesn’t, he’ll have to prove he is worth keeping around. We all know Markkanen has great potential, but there is only so much time this organization can invest in him.

•   I think Satoransky speaks for most of the team …

•   All the losing and Jim Boylen nonsense probably created an overwhelming sense of exhaustion across the team. I don’t think anyone would ever admit it, but it probably became more about getting games over with than actually winning them toward the end of the season. Hopefully, this extended offseason can rejuvenate this Bulls roster. Markkanen, Carter Jr., White, and LaVine have all been at the Advocate Center for workouts already, so let’s hope we see this continue.

•   In other Satoransky news, he was voted the first-ever unanimous Czech Basketball Player of the Year. Congrats, Sato!

•   Wait, so can I print out these photos and sell it for $57,000?

•   Holy Sh*t: Michael Jordan’s game-worn custom Air Jordan 1’s sold for approximately $380,000.

•   Jimmy Butler sat out of practice today for the Heat. Apparently it’s being reported as just an “off day,” but there is certainly some confusion surrounding his absence.

•   Feast your eye on this beautiful basketball.

•   I have no doubt Coby White would drop 50 in the bubble.

•   LOL

written by

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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