Lauri Markkanen has been subjected to unavoidable scrutiny before he was even drafted. Before the 2017 NBA draft back in June, a lot of folks had Markkanen figured out. Or so they thought.
“He can’t pass. He can’t rebound. He’s too skinny. But he can shoot.”
And I mean, he can really shoot the ball. But the body of work that scouts and fans could evaluate him on was his lone season at Arizona that ended abruptly, where he shot well but didn’t rebound like a seven-footer. If he couldn’t out-rebound college players at his height, how the hell is he suppose to do it against grown-ass, 10-year NBA veterans? Well, fast forward two weeks into the regular season and we’ve already got a taste of what the answer to that question is.
When the Chicago Bulls traded away Jimmy Butler and the number 16 pick in the 2017 draft to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn, and the number seven pick in the same draft, the consensus was that the Bulls just botched yet another opportunity to improve. Now it looks like Markkanen might be the player that spearheads their rebuild.
Following the Bobby Portis-Nikola Mirotic incident that will cause Mirotic to miss 4-6 weeks and Portis to be suspended the first eight games of the season, Markkanen was presented with a blessing in disguise. The two guys who would have sucked up potential minutes were now out of the picture for the time being. Markkanen was thrown into the fire with more pressure to perform than before. Sure, the Bulls have little expectations for this season, but racking up 30-plus minutes per game as opposed to the 20-or-so that he would have seen is a huge difference, especially for a rookie. But he didn’t falter. In fact, he’s thriving. He’s objectively been the second best rookie so far behind only Ben Simmons – who looks like he’s going to win all the awards this season – and he’s the leader among rookie nicknames with the clever ‘Lauri Bird’ tag.
the Lauri Bird era begins https://t.co/L27l7tgKEX
— Bojan BossDonavic (@Mariannoo) June 27, 2017
‘Lauri Bird’ is second on his team in minutes per game and leads the team in scoring. He also leads the Bulls in rebounds per game with 9.3. Yes, that’s correct. The player who was consistently labeled a liability on the glass is the leading reason the Bulls currently average the third most rebounds in the NBA. David Nwaba is (somehow) currently the team’s second-leading rebounder and he averages 5.8 per game (which is another problem in itself). Not only is Markkanen one of the Bulls two best players, he’s also been one the league’s two best rookies.
He is second in scoring on the rookie leaderboard at 17.2 points per game, trailing only Ben Simmons. He’s second among all rookies in rebounds per game and, oh yeah, he can really shoot the ball. 39.5 percent from deep on 7.2 attempts per game (17-43 overall) is impressive and it would be insane if he kept that up for an entire season. Is it likely? Probably not. But even a dip in that number would be impressive for a rookie.
His release is swift and he can kill the opposition with pick-and-pops. But what’s most impressive is his unlimited range. He can catch and shoot the ball with fiery efficiency and he’ll gladly pop one with a hand right in his face. If you lay off of him for even a second, you might as well watch the ball gracefully splash through the net.
If the defender does get in his face before he can get off a shot, he’ll slip around them and slither to the basket with confidence. He has impressive quickness for someone his size and – most importantly – he knows how to use it.
With unlimited opportunities coming his way, Lauri Markkanen is already tackling them head-on, thrusting himself into the national spotlight and helping Bulls fans cope with their callous offseason just a little bit easier. The Bulls are still terrible, I promise you that, but with Lauri Bird’s sudden explosion, it may not be for long.
