Despite the recent NSFW beef between Stephen Jackson and the Wiggins brothers, Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen might have just dealt the most savage shot of all after Jimmy Butler requested a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Bulls' stretch-four posted a today-back-then tweet that dated back to draft night, when he was initially drafted by the Timberwolves and then traded alongside teammates Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn for Butler and the No. 7 overall pick (Justin Patton). That gamble will be reduced to absolute rubble for the Timberwolves, who will be forced to trade Butler in the very near future, throwing away the investments they deployed in exchange of Butler.
It's clear Lauri Markkanen did this purposely, as he wasn't drafted on September, but in June of 2017 — darting one hurtful shot to the team that originally drafted him before viewing him as an expendable asset.
In hindsight, the Timberwolves would be arguably in better shape by playing Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, LaVine and Dunn alongside Markkanen — though given Thibodeau's tendency of favoring veterans, it's unknown if Dunn and Markkanen would have developed as nicely as they did throughout the 2017-18 season with the Bulls.
Regardless of the outcome, the Bulls have come out a surefire winner out of this trade, despite getting criticism for their decision to rebuild around younger stars and ridding themselves of their lone remaining All-Star player last June.