The Chicago Bulls have signed first round draft pick Lauri Markkanen to a contract, the team announced on Wednesday.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, in accordance with team policy.
Markkanen, who was taken with the seventh overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft, averaged 15.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in his lone collegiate season at the University of Arizona. The 7-foot-0 big man is capable of shooting from close range and from beyond the three point arc, knocking down nearly two three-pointers per game this season.
The Bulls acquired Markkanen’s draft rights in a trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In exchange, the Bulls sent Butler and the 16th overall pick to Minnesota.
Markkanen will also be on the Bulls’ Las Vegas summer league team, which will begin play over the weekend. He will be joined by several notable players, including Kris Dunn, whom the Bulls acquired in the Butler trade, and Cameron Payne, who came to Chicago in the Taj Gibson trade earlier this year.
The Bulls will be looking to defend the Summer League title that they won last year in Las Vegas, and they will do so with a different coach, as Randy Brown will take over on the bench.
The Bulls will take the court for the first time on Saturday when they battle the Dallas Mavericks.
