Report: Lauri Markkanen privately ridiculed Bulls offense for much of season

Lauri Markkanen’s production for the Chicago Bulls tailed off noticeably this season, and he apparently made his frustrations with the offense known.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday that the 23-year-old privately ridiculed the team’s offense for much of the year. Cowley also says fellow young star Zach LaVine felt somewhat handcuffed by the offense and that he could have done more despite a strong individual season.

Markkanen’s numbers were down across the board in his third NBA season, as he put up 14.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on 42.5 percent from the field (all career-lows). Making matters worse was head coach Jim Boylen’s supposed response to Markkanen’s concerns about touches.

While Chicago’s new front office regime has expressed its commitment to Markkanen’s development, Boylen may be staying on as Bulls coach, so there could still be a big gap to bridge with Markkanen.