Chicago Bulls finish the season at 31-41 after a 118-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks

CHICAGO -- Before the Chicago Bulls’ final game of an unprecedented 2020-21 season — a 118-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night — forward Thad Young took the microphone at center court to address the crowd. Much like Zach LaVine did on the first night fans were allowed back at the United Center, Young thanked the fans for their support and for enduring such a trying season.

The Bulls (31-41) had aspirations to play beyond Sunday and hoped to host fans for a much more meaningful finale. Instead they face a long offseason full of questions after missing the postseason for the fourth consecutive year.

By tipoff Sunday, both teams had nothing to play for. The Bulls were eliminated from play-in contention at the start of the weekend, so they sat LaVine, Nikola Vučević, Daniel Theis, Troy Brown Jr. and Tomáš Satoranský. Meanwhile, the Bucks were locked into the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference once the Brooklyn Nets won shortly before the game started, so they pulled their entire starting lineup.

But the win by the Bulls did do some damage to their draft lottery odds. They now have about a 20% chance to land a top-four pick; otherwise, they owe their pick to the Orlando Magic as part of the Vučević trade.

Whether the Bulls are fortunate enough to hold on to their draft pick will be worth watching, but there’s a lot of work to be done with this roster even without the benefit of a first-round pick. As the offseason begins, here are the top Bulls storylines to watch this summer.

1. Zach LaVine entering the final season of his contract

LaVine took his game to another level in his seventh season. He set career highs across the stat sheet — in points (27.4), rebounds (5.0), assists (4.9), field-goal percentage (50.7%) and 3-point percentage (41.9%). He played 58 games, finished seventh in the league in scoring and will garner consideration for one of the All-NBA teams.

He has steadily improved in each of his four seasons since coming to Chicago, and he graduated to All-Star level this year for the first time in his career. After such an impressive season, LaVine stands to be rewarded, perhaps with a max contract. And next season is the final year on his current deal.

It will be worth watching how the Bulls approach the offseason with LaVine, whether they attempt to reach an extension before his deal expires and how much they are willing to offer to keep him in Chicago. They also need to maintain some salary-cap flexibility in order to continue adding to the roster around LaVine.

2. Lauri Markkanen’s future in restricted free agency

It’s hard to fathom how quickly things changed for Markkanen.

At the start of the season, he was considered a cornerstone of the franchise’s future. Since he was moved out of the starting lineup at the beginning of April, he averaged 9.7 points and only 21.7 minutes (entering Sunday) as the fourth big in the rotation behind Vučević, Theis and Young. The Bulls even tried him out at small forward for some games.

After Markkanen’s playing time and role dwindled down the stretch, it seems likely he’s headed for a departure from the organization once he hits restricted free agency in the offseason. Once a staple in the franchise-altering trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Markkanen’s four seasons with the Bulls might have come to an unceremonious ending.

3. Addressing the point guard situation

Anyone ready for more Lonzo Ball rumors? The point guard position has flummoxed the Bulls for years, truthfully ever since Derrick Rose first went down with a knee injury in the opener of the 2012 playoffs. How they go about addressing that position this offseason will be telling.

Coby White finished the season strong after re-entering the starting lineup for the final month. Do the Bulls believe that was a sign of growth after an up-and-down season? Or will they continue to pursue a veteran to help run an offense that too often lacked a lead initiator and facilitator from the outside.

In a league full of spectacular point guards, will the Bulls finally be able to get this position right for next season?

4. Adding wing depth and defense

Here’s the thing the Bulls learned quickly about their All-Star pairing of LaVine and Vučević: They need to surround them with versatile, strong defenders.

After a disastrous start, the Bulls picked up their defensive intensity over the final few weeks — especially during an extended stretch without LaVine — and were around the league average after the trade deadline. It helped that coach Billy Donovan finally settled on adding Theis to the starting lineup to give them the rim protection lacking with Markkanen or Young.

But the Bulls have to make a decision on Theis, who will be an unrestricted free agent, and find more wing depth behind Patrick Williams, whom they are counting on to make a leap, and likely a replacement for Garrett Temple.