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What’s Going On With Lauri Markkanen?
Lauri Markkanen looked promising after his rookie and sophomore year in the NBA. But now, he has looked the worst in his whole career. There are a couple of things that it could be, but all I know is that his number has gotten worse and he looks worse than when he first came into the league. Sure, there’s been some added talent to the Bulls that could make his numbers go down, but Lauri Markkanen was supposed to be a cornerstone of this team.
Lauri Markkanen Stats
To show how much his numbers have dipped, I’ll provide his stats by season. In his rookie year, where his selection by the Bulls was highly criticized, he impressed with 15.2 PPG on 43.4% shooting and 7.5 RPG. At this point, people were thinking he could be pretty good. His sophomore season is when I started to like Lauri’s game and was looking like a real game-changer. He averaged 18.7 PPG on 43% shooting and 9 RPG. Very solid stats for a sophomore NBA player. Now, he only averages 14.7 PPG on 41.1% shooting and 6.8 RPG. What the heck happened?!
Well, let’s look at it. The Bulls signed Thaddeus Young and acquired Tomas Satoransky in a sign-and-trade. Thaddeus Young has been playing 22 minutes a game, which he primarily plays Lauri’s spot. That could be a factor. Satoransky usually plays the 1-3 position but he has been a positive acquisition for the Bulls that could affect Markkanen’s performance. Or Zach Lavine trying to be an All-Star this year could affect him. However, I think it’s the play of Wendell Carter that affects Markkanen the most. It seems like he has been a more reliable option down low for the Bulls and it has hurt Lauri’s numbers. Although, with the Bulls acquisitions it could just be that there’s not enough of the ball going around for him. Those players acquired have been crucial for the Bulls and now it has affected Lauri. However, Lauri Markkanen is still very young and is only in his 3rd season. He has plenty of his career to improve this game. He might be having a down year, but I expect him to sooner or later make an improvement to being the more relevant players in the league. I don’t think he’ll ever be a star, but he’ll be a solid player.
