What does Lauri need to show for you to want to give him a MAX deal? - Merged

[Michael Jackson]

Personally i give for Lauri time until next autumn ( October 2020 ) to prove his skills and competences.
And if he has not shown any progress then Bulls have to trade him for real stretch 4 PF who can create his own shot without PG's help.

Real stretch 4 PF who can create his own shot without PG's help and is available for a trade? Who is this player?

Sabonis,as he is reportedly available.

Do you think he works next to WCJ? Isn’t that the problem with him playing with Myles?

[SfBull]

We all knew this thread was coming expect many more.

Up next...

Trade our second best player away because our other best player needs to shine more

Otto tends to be our second best player in the new fast pace,high spacing offense,Lauri is important too but not untouchable with a good offer.

[SfBull]

Real stretch 4 PF who can create his own shot without PG's help and is available for a trade? Who is this player?

Sabonis,as he is reportedly available.

Do you think he works next to WCJ? Isn’t that the problem with him playing with Myles?

Maybe,it would depend on the coach's scheme,I like him more than Lauri but the Pacers would likely ask much for him so I don't believe such trade can happen.

[Michael Jackson]

Sabonis,as he is reportedly available.

Do you think he works next to WCJ? Isn’t that the problem with him playing with Myles?

Maybe,it would depend on the coach's scheme,I like him more than Lauri but the Pacers would likely ask much for him so I don't believe such trade can happen.

I like Sabonis too and I have never been a super big Lauri fan (not that I dislike him) but yeah I just don’t think it is likely.

[SfBull]

I have been watching Lauri since his first game as a Bull and I like him, thinking he is a very useful role player.I know that I'm minority here but I don't think he deserves to be maxed unless he goes for a breakout year this season,if he keep playing like that he should be offered a rookie extension or traded if some good offer comes.

[Axolotl]

Personally i give for Lauri time until next autumn ( October 2020 ) to prove his skills and competences.
And if he has not shown any progress then Bulls have to trade him for real stretch 4 PF who can create his own shot without PG's help.

Real stretch 4 PF who can create his own shot without PG's help and is available for a trade? Who is this player?

Sabonis,as he is reportedly available.

Sabonis is good. He doesn't stretch though, as he doesn't shoot from the deep: 17 attempts in 74 games last season, an amount Markkanen takes in like two and a half games. And the price tag will be hefty.

[SfBull]

Don’t worry. Lauri will be excellent, I promise. It’s not easy to find a player with his attributes. We need to worry about defense and who we surround him with.

There’s a good chance that Lauri at least becomes an all star someday, so I’m surprised at the 30% against him. Should we max him? Well that’s another story, and one which we will find out after this season.

Maybe a best poll would be maxing or trading him just because the alternative of signing him a rookie extension seems to be prudent today ( but perhaps not after this season,which obviously will be crucial for him with the new offense, things changed after his draft).

[Michael Jackson]

Yeah I like him but never thought of him as a star player. Definitely a good player. also not untouchable and this ore season has done nothing to change my view of him one way or the other.

[SfBull]

I would still give him this year but I do agree that this needs to be looked at. Right now lauri has value and can be a center piece for a big trade for a star. If the bulls make strides and can compete for a top 3 spot in the east it's worth considering the change if it means bringing a legit star to the team to pair with lavine coby porter jr etc. And hopefully make us a legit contender.

What would kill lauri value is the bulls hanging to a hope he will fully figure it out, hand him this large deal then finding out he is what he is. Once all that money is attached to him it becomes difficult to trade him. Seems this the only time we can be honest about these players , after they get they money. Before then it baby them, and keep giving them the development youth and time excuse. Bulls have a history of hanging on to guys we draft a bit longer than we should have.

I would give him this season, and if it just doesn't seem like its turning around , I move him on draft night.

Totally agreed.

[SfBull]

Says he’s doesn’t care about stats but then posts stats....

Preseason doesn’t matter yet you’re judging him off just that....

3rd year player... forgets this is the start of his 3rd year.....

This slightly makes me glad Gar/Pax are our GMs because it could be worse.

I’m happy too

Many guys who are top in the league were not thought of as great players entering their 3rd year.

This is all noise...

Yup still got screenshots of people here only a few months ago trashing Zach acting like he could never get better and that he was a low IQ player. 4 preseason games later a lot of his haters riding him now and now switched to Lauri. I don’t get how we haven’t understood that everyone grows different. Lauri is only 22 he still has more than enough time to grow that’s been proven already by his teammate.

You're talking about different players,Zach played like Jimmy in his breakout preseason ( you obviously remember his Jimmy Jordan nickname during that games). Lauri didn't show up so strong so the question is if he keep playing like today would you still max him,is he really untouchable?I remember old discussions like that about Ben Gordon . Hopefully Lauri shines in this new offense but for now I'd trade him for the right package ( Sabonis perhaps but for what price?).

[SfBull]

The big problem with any Markkanen trade fantasy is that there would be a very high probability of the Bulls shooting themselves in the foot. As ever.

Even with all the well-documented holes in Lauri's game, I'm pretty sure that most of his problems are mental right now and can be traced back to decisions made by his own club. Particularly his weird non-role in the offense, which is something that started rearing its ugly head right after his rookie season and only temporarily went away last February with known results.

I'm afraid the Bulls, disappointed with Lauri's lackluster performances lately, could be suckered into some deal where they wouldn't get back nearly equal value, only to see Markkanen immediately start thriving on some other team that uses him as something more than a floor spacer / decoy.

I dunno. Maybe it's inevitable that on this team, Lauri will never regain the aggressiveness he showed in his rookie season. Too much has changed around him and the balance of power has shifted on the court. In that case he might want to go elsewhere. We'll be a lot wiser after this season.

I still tend to think that Zach and Lauri are an awkward pair. Zach can play with Lauri since he doesn't have to modify his own game, but Lauri has always had trouble playing with Zach. He would probably have the same problem with any ball-dominant, high usage scoring guard.

Maybe he can play much better with a guard like Sato.

[SfBull]

These are fun discussions, but it's impossible to make a good answer unless you know:

1) Who could we get in return? Giannis, sure. AD, ok. Bobby Portis, no.

2) What will need to pay him to keep him? It gets sorta circular. If he's great, he'll get the max. If he's Lauri from last season (not just Feb), he'll get maybe $18-$20 per year.

You would be paying him like Zach.

[Michael Jackson]

Yeah I do t judge Lauri from preseason. 1 we didn’t run a whole bunch of offensive sets for him and in general we were just doing offensive framework. Dunn early on had free reign to slow up the game, Zach was able to showcase his new skill set... not a whole lot was run for Lauri. Let’s get 10-15 real games deep before we start making too many judgements how these guys are going to work. No one was playing good team d against us in the preseason either. It is fun to watch but gives us skewed intel.

[SfBull]

I'ts the beginning of hi third year, dam Bulls fans are finicky

No we have one of the worst fan bases in sports. At least online.

Discussing Lauri's future shouldn't be the reason for such opinion,I didn't read nothing deserving such evaluation, actually the richness of the discussions being the best part of this board.

[Benedict Miller]

Lauri is going to get vastly overpaid. I personally don't think he has it in him to become a consistent all-star level player. He is far too limited.

That being said, you do not trade him for poor value. I think he needs to be the centerpiece of a larger package to try to bring in a star forward. (But will there even be any available?)

Far too limited? What star forward do you have in mind?

Siakam

Markkanen is a very good basketball player, is just 22 years old averaged 18 and 9 last year and is capable of making clutch plays. Yeah Siakam's a player, but no disrespect. I wasn't asking you either.

[TheFinishSniper]

He's a player, but no disrespect. I wasn't asking you.

And we can cross that option given he just got extended. And got a max. Something which will our inferior player at PF and not playoff tested ask in a year.

[sco]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/raptors-pascal-siakam-reportedly-agree-183904944.html

4/$129...there's your comp. Icky!

[kodo]

And if he has not shown any progress then Bulls have to trade him for real stretch 4 PF who can create his own shot without PG's help.

Stretch PFs, 4/5 bigs like Markkannen don't create their own shot very much unless that person is really a SF like Lebron, Giannis, Durant.

Markkanen's assisted percentage is in line with the league's better PFs:
Markkanen: 68% assisted
Anthony Davis: 65% assisted
Draymond: 76% assisted
KAT: 66% assisted

The best case for Lauri, one he'll probably never reach, was championship Dirk Nowitzki. Who was 63% assisted that year (he's 90% assisted now). Dumping a kid because he's off 5% from one of the greatest shooting 7' PFs in history seems premature.

The role of PF in the recent champions isn't self shot creation, Ibaka, Love, Draymond, Bosh all played mostly assisted. Even Duncan the last time he won a title was 67% assisted. KG in 08 was 67% assisted.

The main area stopping him from being a star PF is more defense. I would bring this up in contract talks before ballhandling.

[DASMACKDOWN]

This offseason and the season will be the biggest indicator of how much he is probably worth. Siakim getting 130 mil. Jalen Brown turning down 80 mil. Buddy Hield wants 110 mil.

The good thing about the landscape of the NBA, is that any deal can get moved essentially. Especially if you are young.

As much as people hate Andrew Wiggins, id bet my house that he will eventually get traded if someone wants to do it. There are always stars who want to move. There is always a team that decides to rebuild and tear things down. So even paying a middle player top money isn't a death sentence.

Chandler Parsons got a 4/94 mil contract and has played 49 games in 3 seasons. Still got traded.

Lauri is certainly worth 100 mil as a floor in my opinion.

[FriedRise]

In fact, as Markkanen fielded questions about a preseason that featured him playing more as a spot-up shooter than the dynamic, double-double machine that defined his February 2019, he shifted the focus to defense and rebounding.

Ho and hum, indeed.

“You’re trying to get me to say 22 (points) and 12 (rebounds) and 3 assists,” Markkanen said, smiling. “I don’t have those kinds of goals. I want to get our wins from 22 to whatever. And I want to get our home wins from nine to whatever. I’m not putting a number on those either. But I think guys are doing a good job of making unselfish plays and making the extra pass. We’re coming together as a team.”

In fact, Markkanen said, at least for now, his only individual goals are to “stay healthy and be consistent.” He reiterated his stance from media day that his goal is to play all 82 games after averaging 60 games his first two seasons.

“I wanted to focus on defense more this preseason and I was a little disappointed in myself in that regard early in preseason. But I watched a lot of film and I think I had my learning moments and I think I got better as preseason moved on,” Markkanen said. “I’ve talked to Coach. We both expect rebounding from me. I think we’re going to be really good offensively. It’s at a high level now, and we’re deeper. If we rebound and can limit their possessions, we have a chance to be really good.”

Don’t mistake Markkanen’s aversion to setting statistical goals for submissiveness. Early in the interview, he called his preseason “maybe not as great as I wanted to play” and acknowledged he needs to increase his free-throw attempts by getting to the rim more.

Of Markkanen’s 42 shots, 24 came from beyond the arc and he attempted just seven free throws in close to 91 preseason minutes. That average of 1.8 free-throw attempts in his four preseason games pales in comparison to the 3.8 he averaged last season.

“I haven’t got to the rim as much. I’m conscious of that. Those are easy points for us,” Markkanen said. “(Driving) is still available to me. But defenses are loading up on me more and trying not to let me get downhill. And we’re not in the post as much (offensively) as we used to be. We’re shooting a lot of 3s.”

Read on Twitter