Lauri:' I can make the comeback'

[coldfish]

The Bulls are a cash conscious organization. They won't give every young guy a big extension. I would really hate to see the team dump Coby or Zach or even PW just because Lauri is making $20m per year.

[PlayerUp]

Right now Lauri isn't worth bringing back so we'll need to see more this season before we can look to extend him.

Lauri has only regressed since coming into the NBA. If there are no improvements with him on this roster before deadline, there likely will never be improvements. Sell while you can, get what you can and move forward. Otherwise let him test free agency where some team may offer an overloaded deal they'll instantly regret.

Either way the #1 thing we shouldn't do is overpay for an extension of his which will hurt us in the long run. Better to let him walk for nothing in that case.

[Louri]

It was more promising game. Really good game in D, lot's of drives, trying poster dunk, tried turn around fadeaway, got lot's of open looks from team, went to rebounds. What was missing? Shots didn't fall. What will change when 9 months rust will fall from shoulders? Shots will fall.

[bullslas]

It was more promising game. Really good game in D, lot's of drives, trying poster dunk, tried turn around fadeaway, got lot's of open looks from team, went to rebounds. What was missing? Shots didn't fall. What will change when 9 months rust will fall from shoulders? Shots will fall.

Exactly this! Lauri is going to be fine! You can see more excitement from him and if he makes a few more shots and that phantom travel call on him, he would've had 20 pts and 9 rebounds in a "bad game".. I do think having Lauri play some center minutes will be good, as this offense looks like it frees up the center to do more!

Lauri is a starter in this league and I can see a nice come back year for him.

[Kukoc-Lauri]

I am ok with Lauri shoot himself out of the slump because i saw in majority of his career he is verry capable shooter. He just needs to stay agressive in attack mode, in and out game, mixing stuff, and be acttive on boards, getting cuts and putbacks. I just cannot believe it why people want someone like Oubrey or either Bridges,Culver over Lauri. Oubrey and Bridges played 4 with Ayton as center. Bridges and Carter would been destroyed on boards. We saw how that heavy forwards teams like Miami,Boston,Blazers,Rockets were crushed by real pf and centers in playoffs. Friendly reminder Gsw had Bogut/Mcgee, Lakers Davis/Howard, Raptors as championship Ibaka/Gasol. You can play that forwards as 4 if you have Embiid,Davis,Ayton,Gobert as rim protector. Markkanen/Gafford or Lopez,Gobert is right pairing and if you like Carter's game( i personally dont view him as Horford type, he was low 20% in 3 first 2 years and in preaseason he is 1/12 below 10%), you need someone like Porzingis,Love,Durant to protect rim and stretch floor. Carter is foul machine and i dont see him being good passer. For me i believe more in Lauri than WCJ(prime trade candidate for me) because i saw him averaging 19/9 for season and being able to shoot.

[Dez]

People keep saying Lauri is in a shooting slump, he's a barely average shooter and at some point you need to accept it's not a slump and he's just not a good shooter.

[sco]

I agree that, while it's great that Lauri is doing other things than just shoot...sounds like Billy is in his ear on that; however, Lauri's value will be very tied to what his 3pt % is this season.

[Kurt Heimlich]

Lauri attacking the rim is certainly an improvement from settling on 1 for 10 from 3. His off the dribble ability was something that interesting as a rookie so it's important to see if that is truly a weapon for him.

Ultimately if Coby/Zach/PW are as good as they look, Lauri won't be a primary scorer, and maybe that's for the best for him. He can play off of our wings/guards and take advantage of matchups/ball movement to get his buckets/rim attacking opportunities. In my eye's down to roughly 4th-6th most important guy on the roster at this point (with the arrow pointing down and guys like Hutch looking to come up).

[Kukoc-Lauri]

There is absolutley zero coaches and gm-s in Nba that views and valuaes Hutchinson more than Markkanen. In my estimation probably 80% of coaches and gm-s in Nba would rather have Markkanen than Carter. In reality only player who have more value than Markkanen on this roster is Lavine. White and Williams due to lenghts of deals and potential could surpase his value league wise this year but it could be one way or arround. If not on Bulls Hutchinson would struggle to find roster spot (see Shaq Harrison,Kidd-Ghilchrist,Nwamba,Hollis-Jefferson).

[greenl]

Shots didn't fall. What will change when 9 months rust will fall from shoulders? Shots will fall.

I hope you're correct. But, we're now heading into year 4 of his career and the shots haven't been falling- aside from one outlier month. When do we acknowledge Lauri is a mediocre shooter?

[sami71]

People keep saying Lauri is in a shooting slump, he's a barely average shooter and at some point you need to accept it's not a slump and he's just not a good shooter.

Both could be right. His shot was beautiful when it was on. But Hoiberg had to fix Lauri's shooting several times when he went into a slump. Now Fred is not around to drag him out of it.

Lauri unfortunately will pay for his poor choices managing his life outside of court. Hope he thinks it was worth it 20 years from now, and it could well be. If he stays relatively healthy he will still have a remarkable career in bb for a Finn, just not in the absolute top - the NBA. He started out really promising but it has been downhill all the way, and I see absolutely zero reason to believe that it will reverse. I realize that it is possible: I just don't see any signs pointing to it. Not a single aspect of his game has improved since he was a rookie and many like shooting have regressed. He is a bust, Bulls should move on.

I do think he was a good pick at #7. He just couldn't adapt to NA lifestyle and to how demanding NBA is compared to - anything, really. That was hard to foresee as Finns generally adapt well to NA in f.ex NHL and in tech industry. Had Lauri developed reasonably well from what he was as a rookie it would have been fine. He didn't.

[GoBlue72391]

Shots didn't fall. What will change when 9 months rust will fall from shoulders? Shots will fall.

I hope you're correct. But, we're now heading into year 4 of his career and the shots haven't been falling- aside from one outlier month. When do we acknowledge Lauri is a mediocre shooter?

Lauri shot .362 from 3 as a rookie, .361 in 2018-19, and. 344 last year in what was a down year, for a career percentage of .356 on 6.2 attempts per game. That percentage isn't as high as we would like, nor is it as high as we were expecting when he was drafted, but it is remarkably consistent, especially for a young, streaky player like Lauri.

Ironically, that "one hot month" you're referring to he actually shot worse than his career percentage from 3 at .348 and still managed to put up an efficient 26 and 12. So that's actually working against the point you're trying to make.

His best game as a pro, when he dropped 35 and 17 against the Hornets in last season's opener, he shot only 1 of 7 from 3. He's proven that he can impact the game at a high level even when he's only shooting at an average to below average rate from 3.

We should be optimistic over the fact that he looks more aggressive, confident, quicker, and more engaged defensively and on the boards, because one he starts making his 3s he'll be the player we've been hoping he can be. There's no reason to panic over Lauri missing his 3s during the preseason, and there is nothing to suggest he'll keep shooting this poorly for any notable length of time.

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[Dez]

Shots didn't fall. What will change when 9 months rust will fall from shoulders? Shots will fall.

I hope you're correct. But, we're now heading into year 4 of his career and the shots haven't been falling- aside from one outlier month. When do we acknowledge Lauri is a mediocre shooter?

Lauri shot .362 from 3 as a rookie, .361 in 2018-19, and. 344 last year in what was a down year, for a career percentage of .356 on 6.2 attempts per game. That percentage isn't as high as we would like, nor is it as high as we were expecting when he was drafted, but it is remarkably consistent, especially for a young, streaky player like Lauri.

Ironically, that "one hot month" you're referring to he actually shot worse than his career percentage from 3 at .348 and still managed to put up an efficient 26 and 12. So that's actually working against the point you're trying to make.

His best game as a pro, when he dropped 35 and 17 against the Hornets in last season's opener, he shot only 1 of 7 from 3. He's proven that he can impact the game at a high level even when he's only shooting at an average to below average rate from 3.

We should be optimistic over the fact that he looks more aggressive, confident, quicker, and more engaged defensively and on the boards, because one he starts making his 3s he'll be the player we've been hoping he can be. There's no reason to panic over Lauri missing his 3s during the preseason, and there is nothing to suggest he'll keep shooting this poorly for any notable length of time.

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There's 3 years of data that suggests he'll continue to keep shooting at a mediocre level.....

[GoBlue72391]

I hope you're correct. But, we're now heading into year 4 of his career and the shots haven't been falling- aside from one outlier month. When do we acknowledge Lauri is a mediocre shooter?

Lauri shot .362 from 3 as a rookie, .361 in 2018-19, and. 344 last year in what was a down year, for a career percentage of .356 on 6.2 attempts per game. That percentage isn't as high as we would like, nor is it as high as we were expecting when he was drafted, but it is remarkably consistent, especially for a young, streaky player like Lauri.

Ironically, that "one hot month" you're referring to he actually shot worse than his career percentage from 3 at .348 and still managed to put up an efficient 26 and 12. So that's actually working against the point you're trying to make.

His best game as a pro, when he dropped 35 and 17 against the Hornets in last season's opener, he shot only 1 of 7 from 3. He's proven that he can impact the game at a high level even when he's only shooting at an average to below average rate from 3.

We should be optimistic over the fact that he looks more aggressive, confident, quicker, and more engaged defensively and on the boards, because one he starts making his 3s he'll be the player we've been hoping he can be. There's no reason to panic over Lauri missing his 3s during the preseason, and there is nothing to suggest he'll keep shooting this poorly for any notable length of time.

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There's 3 years of data that suggests he'll continue to keep shooting at a mediocre level.....

Did you just ignore everything else I wrote?

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[Dez]

Lauri shot .362 from 3 as a rookie, .361 in 2018-19, and. 344 last year in what was a down year, for a career percentage of .356 on 6.2 attempts per game. That percentage isn't as high as we would like, nor is it as high as we were expecting when he was drafted, but it is remarkably consistent, especially for a young, streaky player like Lauri.

Ironically, that "one hot month" you're referring to he actually shot worse than his career percentage from 3 at .348 and still managed to put up an efficient 26 and 12. So that's actually working against the point you're trying to make.

His best game as a pro, when he dropped 35 and 17 against the Hornets in last season's opener, he shot only 1 of 7 from 3. He's proven that he can impact the game at a high level even when he's only shooting at an average to below average rate from 3.

We should be optimistic over the fact that he looks more aggressive, confident, quicker, and more engaged defensively and on the boards, because one he starts making his 3s he'll be the player we've been hoping he can be. There's no reason to panic over Lauri missing his 3s during the preseason, and there is nothing to suggest he'll keep shooting this poorly for any notable length of time.

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There's 3 years of data that suggests he'll continue to keep shooting at a mediocre level.....

Did you just ignore everything else I wrote?

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Not at all but you seem to be ignoring that he needs to be a better shooter and the fact that he's not is something to be worried about.

It's all good being "aggressive" but yesterday he literally just added missed drives to his missed jump shots.

He rebounded better I'll give him that but he still sucks defensively.

[Evil_Headband]

I do believe what AK and Donovan have said about valuing Lauri. I don’t think they are BSing. Although I personally have been down on Lauri, their optimism certainly gives me pause. They know a hell of a lot more about basketball than I do.

[Jiipee84]

And here we have Mirotic comparison again.. I think only reason why there is so many Finnish peeps here defending Lauri is fact that he is still raw player. Mirotic was 23 years old at his rookie year. Before Bulls he was Spanish league MVP, Spanis cup and supercup winner, all-euroleague second team, spanish league domestic player of the year, 2x EUROLEAGUE rising star.... Then we have Lauri who played really nice rookie year and even better 2nd year.. and his background is finnish 2nd league and 1 year in Arizona. That's why I don't even know why they are still mentioned in same sentence when you look their potential and ceiling. I think Donovan might finally make Lauri bloom. If they choose to let go and trade Lauri, that's fine too. I've heard there is some good teams interested already.

And those ''good NBA teams'' who are interested about Lauri are ?
You were talking about Mirotic Euroleague trophies which are totally different thing and it hasn't nothing to do with Lauri.
Do you even understand that how big difference is between Finland's 1st men's division ( Lauri played there before NCAA ) and Euroleague.

By the way even Lauri had once a chance to sign Euroleague contract when Euroleague team named Sevilla tried recruit him.
But Lauri's dad Pekka terminated that chance because Lauri was underage that moment.

[Jiipee84]

Lauri's not going to shoot 20% from 3 all year. He'll have a stretch where he hits 48% over 10 games on 8/game and this board will be thinking NBA finals the way Zach and Coby are flame-throwing currently. He's getting decent looks and from different sets than last year. But yeah, he looks rusty as hell. You can tell by how off his FT were. BTW, I don't think he has his legs underneath him in game shape just yet. He'll get there. 80%+ FT shooters will get back to norm quickly enough.

I am actually much more impressed with his D the last couple of games. He's no Gobert, but he's been challenging shots a lot more than he has in the past and I actually saw him do 3-4 perfect rotations when he was the C tonight. Last year he could go for a week without having as many good defensive plays.

Donovan's usage of the Zach + Coby tandem just shows his brilliance.

The NBA will go through a period (maybe a very short period) where they will try to contain them with their normal defense.

But when that fails, they'll start putting in special defenses to try to do the job. And that will open up things for Lauri as well as WCJ and P-Will.

My guess, is that after 10-20 games (max) we'll start to see special defenses rolled out for Zach + Coby, and that's when things will really start to get interesting/exciting from a coaches-chess game standpoint.

That's what I'm waiting to see - Donovan out-coach other coaches in the league.

========================
Regarding Lauri's contract extension.

If they don't get it done before the end of the season (and I think that they will), Lauri will easily get offered 20+ mil/year.

There are a lot of teams already high on him (if you listen to the different announcers talk about his skill-set), and they will be watching how he fits into Donovan's system to project how he'd fit into theirs.

And those NBA teams who are high on Lauri are ?
To me it's a bit difficult to believe teams like Jazz, 76ers, Mavericks, Warriors Bucks, Raptors, Heat, Lakers and Clippers and Celtics
being interested about Lauri but i can see teams like Pelicans, Knicks, Suns, Kings, Hornets ( if MJ approves Lauri )
at least try to sign Lauri in RFA free agency if that chance comes available.

But being totally honest i really would like to see Lauri playing with Zion if things won't work with Bulls.

[thedarkstark]

I would offer Lauri the Qualifying Offer at the end of the season which he'll likely decline, at which point I'd bid him farewell.

inconsistent offense and non-existent defense isn't something championship caliber teams pay guys $20+ million a year for.

[Kukoc-Lauri]

Funny how people trash Lauri's 35-36% career for 3, when Coby new Lillard according to many as pg have same precentages for 3. Carter made like 20 threes in his whole career with 10% and people are ok with that and pushing him to continues bricking every single shoot. Lavine as sg and best shooter shooting like 3% bettet for three. We dont have evidence of PWill becoming great 3 point shooter, even if i would like him to become. Thad Young as other pf made Sears tower from bricks he shoots last season with green light like he was prime Reggie Miller. Lauri is never gonna become anything close to Dirk, and that is fine. But at 23 yo he still at least be player in mode of Van Horn,Galinari,Leattner,Bertans. And they were coveted in this years fa, players with that type of skill set and production. At his worst last season, with injuries he was 15 ppg, 6 rpg player. Even if he is Ryan Anderson, that guy netted near max deal and was 3 or 4 scorer on contending team.Leave Markkanen to play this season and then judge him. He is still rfa, if he is not on future plans you always can s/t him, there will always be someone who is interested. At his absolutely worst he is still rotational player in Nba. At his best he is still player who could made all star team. Reality is most likley in midlle 3 option on playoff team with maybe one or two asg at best and that is worth keeping imo.