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Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen has been on a wild ride since March Madness in Salt Lake City

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It was the place where Markkanen and his Arizona teammates punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 this spring, where the Finnish one-and-done player helped carve out a March Madness run and sent his stock rising.

But it’s not what he felt. The first thing he noticed: “It’s different. It’s changed.”

The home arena of the Utah Jazz has been renovated since Markkanen last visited, and in many ways so has he. It’s been a whirlwind rookie season for the 7-foot 20-year-old forward, and he’s the leading scorer (15.