Chicago Bulls Receive: F Harrison Barnes

Sacramento Kings Receive: F Lauri Markkanen (via sign-and-trade)

Another option for the Sacramento Kings to expand on their young talents is to pursue Lauri Markkanen, who is still a restricted free agent. The Chicago Bulls’ young 7-footer has yet to sign a new contract and with free agency basically being over at this point, the Kings could probably get him cheaper than they would have imagined. 

Who knows if Markkanen would even want to go to Sacramento, but if he is willing to sign a deal with them for anywhere from $12M-$14M per year, the Kings would likely be interested in bringing him in to pair with Richaun Holmes in their frontcourt. 

This course of action would hard-cap them, which is not advantageous to the Kings, but from a pure talent perspective, Markkanen is only 24-years-old and would fit in well with Sacramento given their need for outside shooting.

Last year, Lauri Markkanen shot 40.2% from three-point range and averaged 13.6 points per game for the Bulls, making him a young big man they could look to build with for the foreseeable future. 

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As for the Bulls, they want to get something out of a potential Lauri Markkanen sign-and-trade and while they would like to get a first-round pick, getting Harrison Barnes could actually better their efforts to contend in the Eastern Conference. Getting Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan this offseason makes the Bulls a strong team to watch, but they are still missing some secondary talent. 

Having Harrison Barnes gives them another reliable scorer and above-average defender on the wing, which is a position the Bulls are looking to add more talent at. Patrick Williams and DeMar DeRozan are their only reliable wing players under-contract for next season, which is why the Bulls could be willing to pay Barnes’ contract for his production.