Lauri Markkanen appears to take shot at Bulls after move to Cavaliers

Lauri Markkanen is finally out of Chicago, and it sounds like it has been a long time coming for him.

The new Cleveland Cavaliers big man spoke this week with reporters and appeared to take a thinly-veiled shot at his former team, the Bulls.

“I feel like I get to play basketball the way I know rather than just having to play one role,” said Markkanen of being in Cleveland, per Evan Dammarrell of Right Down Euclid. “After talking with the coaching staff, I feel like it’s pretty free here.”

The 24-year-old Markkanen was drafted by Chicago No. 7 overall in 2017 and began flirting with a 20-10 average by his sophomore year. But as Bulls teammate Zach LaVine ascended and the team went through a number of coaching changes, Markkanen was never able to touch those heights again.

After years of being openly frustrated with the Chicago offense, Markkanen was sent to Cleveland in a multi-team trade this offseason. It sounds like that move will give him the chance to offer more than what he was able to show in Chicago.