Lauri Markkanen unlikely to play in tonight's rematch against the Orlando Magic

by Bella Michaels

Photo Courtesy of Chicago Bulls, Jonathan Daniel

Lauri Markkanen scored 13 points and 5 rebounds in his 17 minutes of play before suffering a right shoulder sprain that sent him to the sidelines in Friday night’s 123-119 loss to the Orlando Magic.

Coach Billy Donovan said Markkanen is unlikely to play in tonight’s game, as advised by the medical staff.

Markkanen seems to have sustained the injury in the first quarter on a drive to the basket where Gary Clark fouled him on a layup. He played for another two-and-a-half minutes in the first quarter and checked back in for eight minutes in the second quarter. He then exited the game for good at the 10:30 mark of the third quarter.

This is irritating for the Bulls because they’re already playing without Wendell Carter Jr. (quad contusion) and Otto Porter Jr. (back), so not having Markkanen won’t help the fact that they dropped their record to 8-13. This is the same trio of guys that missed a chunk of last season due to injuries.

Markkanen already had missed seven games this season because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols, but has been playing the best of his four-year career.

He is averaging 19.1 points per game, 6.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists this season. He’s shooting at a career-high level, 51.4% from the field and 39.6% from 3.

This injury could begin to derail Markkanen’s progress to his game, since we’ve seen it happen with him in the past, but the severity of his injury is still unknown. So, it totally depends on how serious it is and how much time he’s going to miss.

Markkanen is also approaching restricted free agency this summer, since he and the Bulls didn’t agree to a contract extension this past offseason. So, this injury didn’t come at the best time – even though there’s never a good time for an injury.

Donovan discusses the change in rotation going forward, with the absence of Markkanen:

While I think Markkanen is important for the Bulls to get a win, a positive of his absence is that it would allow more minutes for rookie Patrick Williams, who is having a great season.

On Friday night, Williams became the youngest player in Bulls history to score 20 points, while also achieving a career high.

So I don’t think giving him more playing time would hurt, especially since the Bulls are running out of choices with their list of injuries accumulating this season.