NBA Draft 2020: 5 best fits for Onyeka Okongwu

3. Chicago Bulls

Another lottery team with a big entering a contract year is the Chicago Bulls, who seem prepared to move on from their guy as well. Lauri Markkanen has been mostly a disappointment in Chicago, partially because of the unstable roster and coaching staff, but partially because his role in the modern NBA is unclear.

He has a really good shooting stroke for a 7-footer, but any bigger of an offensive role than “stretch 4 on a good team” doesn’t seem likely. And as a non-center, he’s not helping your defense at all. So unless he can be retained for cheap, it doesn’t seem in the Bulls’ plans to keep him past the last year of his contract.

Okongwu would be the polar opposite of Markkanen, but the new guy’s extreme is much more viable in 2020. Okongwu and Wendell Carter Jr. can be a dastardly duo defensively, as both have similar strengths checking opponents both in space and at the rim. They could even switch assignments if the situation calls for it.

Carter had a legit phobia of spacing the floor last season, but a lot of that blame falls on Jim Boylen. He had a legitimate stroke in college; a new coach can definitely revive that part of his game. The duo wouldn’t mesh offensively right away, but it would come along quicker than the above teams’ integration process.