Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread

[PaKii94]

The funny thing is FebruLauri was inflated because of VOLUME and OPPORTUNITY. He wasn't all that efficient. Lauri HAS improved his finishing and 3pt shooting. If he got those same 80 touches now he could have been pushing 40ppg p36 during his hot streak earlier.

Instead we had to develop our young studs in coby and wcj

[PaKii94]

Some team will actually pay him to be a second option and give him actual second option touches and bulls fans will bemoan "why couldn't he do it here?!?"

[PaKii94]

Unfortunately this same thing is now happening to the PAW he produces with his touches but he is far down on the pecking order. If he doesn't get his touches he will also "bust" out and that wouldn't be his doing.

[Dez]

So we're still sticking with the "it's everybody elses fault"? Okay.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Some team will actually pay him to be a second option and give him actual second option touches and bulls fans will bemoan "why couldn't he do it here?!?"

If anyone does that, we can just point to games played, atrocious defense, piss poor rebounding, always had a negative +\-, never improved in 4 years, etc etc.

Then we all get to chuckle at how that poor team gave him 20 million a year.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Lauri’s TS% at .610 now, thought it higher.
If that number starts with a 5 by the end of the year. Bulls may actually keep him because who is paying an average scorer when that’s the only thing he does.

I liked my Ryan Anderson comp, but I’m not sure he ever reaches peak Ryan Anderson. Not with Chicago anyways

[WindyCityBorn]

Some team will actually pay him to be a second option and give him actual second option touches and bulls fans will bemoan "why couldn't he do it here?!?"

He won’t do it anywhere because he does not have the talent. Period. A second option that can’t do anything besides be an inconsistent 3 point shooter and provides nothing else. Glad it won’t be us paying him so not my problem.

[WindyCityBorn]

So we're still sticking with the "it's everybody elses fault"? Okay.

Hard to admit he just isn’t good.

[WindyCityBorn]

Unfortunately this same thing is now happening to the PAW he produces with his touches but he is far down on the pecking order. If he doesn't get his touches he will also "bust" out and that wouldn't be his doing.

Paw is actually athletic and not useless if his jumpshot isn’t falling.

[WindyCityBorn]

These Lauri meltdowns are entertaining in an otherwise miserable stretch of Bulls basketball. The excuse making will never stop until he is gone. Which will be soon.

[ZOMG]

Unfortunately this same thing is now happening to the PAW he produces with his touches but he is far down on the pecking order. If he doesn't get his touches he will also "bust" out and that wouldn't be his doing.

Paw is actually athletic and not useless if his jumpshot isn’t falling.

Patrick doesn't even HAVE a jump shot. Come on now. The one-handed floater thing from the FT line does not count.

[WindyCityBorn]

Unfortunately this same thing is now happening to the PAW he produces with his touches but he is far down on the pecking order. If he doesn't get his touches he will also "bust" out and that wouldn't be his doing.

Paw is actually athletic and not useless if his jumpshot isn’t falling.

Patrick doesn't even HAVE a jump shot. Come on now. The one-handed floater thing from the FT line does not count.

He does have a jump shot. He is shooting a respectable 38 percent from 3 albeit on low volume (2.2 attempts per game) and his mid-range shot is solid. Actually I would rather see him take more 3s instead of 20 foot 2s and Donovan has mentioned this as well. Let’s not pretend he is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

[sco]

I feel like Lauri's fall off in play is really the NBA's fault. They totally failed to implement the "extra ball that only Lauri can touch" rule. Lauri shoots a near league leading 74% from 3pt range when nobody else is touching his ball.

With my usual poking fun at Lauri's brother-in-law and agent (who are active posters in this thread) aside, I am wondering if there is a "prove it" deal that might make sense to the Bulls and Lauri if nobody offers him more than MLE money this offseason.

[coldfish]

It seems as if the rumor that the Bulls were willing to trade Lauri for any first round pick and no one offered one are true. Apparently most of the NBA thinks he will not be a value proposition on his next contract so he wasn’t worth even a late first rounder.

When you compare Frank Kaminsky and Lauri, I really wonder how much demand there will be for LM. I’m sure some team will offer him something and the Bulls won’t match but I’m not sure people are going to start a bidding war for him.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kaminfr01.html

[CobyWhite0]

The funny thing is FebruLauri was inflated because of VOLUME and OPPORTUNITY. He wasn't all that efficient. Lauri HAS improved his finishing and 3pt shooting. If he got those same 80 touches now he could have been pushing 40ppg p36 during his hot streak earlier.

Instead we had to develop our young studs in coby and wcj

You're joking, right?

Lauri's 2018-19 TS% by month:

Dec - .540
Jan - .544
Feb - .610
Mar - .510

But he has "improved his 3pt shooting", temporarily at least. He's now at 38% for the season, after 36.2%, 36.1% and 34.4% his first three seasons. Of course, that's all because he started the season hot in a very small sample size of 14 games. Another hot month, but he's had a few in his career.

He's had plenty of volume over his last 12 games, 6.3 3ptAtt/game, and he's at 30.3%. Ouch. Or in other words, back to normal.

The league as a whole shoots 36.7% from behind the arc. There is absolutely nothing special about Lauri's 38.0% (and falling quickly).

[DuckIII]

I feel like Lauri's fall off in play is really the NBA's fault. They totally failed to implement the "extra ball that only Lauri can touch" rule. Lauri shoots a near league leading 74% from 3pt range when nobody else is touching his ball.

With my usual poking fun at Lauri's brother-in-law and agent (who are active posters in this thread) aside, I am wondering if there is a "prove it" deal that might make sense to the Bulls and Lauri if nobody offers him more than MLE money this offseason.

Depends on the Bulls cap situation and other options. If the Bulls don’t have capspace or the free agent options are basically bums, then you have to retain Lauri on a reasonable deal and hope he evolves or that he becomes a useful trade asset. We can’t lose assets for nothing anymore unless the cost of retaining them is a clear negative.

That said, you have to assume at this point that Lauri will do whatever he can to get out of Chicago.

[VolumePoster]

It seems as if the rumor that the Bulls were willing to trade Lauri for any first round pick and no one offered one are true. Apparently most of the NBA thinks he will not be a value proposition on his next contract so he wasn’t worth even a late first rounder.

When you compare Frank Kaminsky and Lauri, I really wonder how much demand there will be for LM. I’m sure some team will offer him something and the Bulls won’t match but I’m not sure people are going to start a bidding war for him.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kaminfr01.html

I would be exceptionally surprised as well. I could see him signing with a successful team, non elite, to add upside; the Celtics in particular.

[VolumePoster]

The last thing I'll say is that I think we went away from the Vuk/Lauri frontcourt way too quickly. I still think it was an overreaction to a terrible first game against a smooth veteran team. Lauris best play was with a big center, Robin Lopez, that allowed him to crash the boards and attack closeouts. I also like Thad better as the hub center of the second unit, and which has playmaking is badly needed.

Changing the starting unit so quickly seemed like a shortsighted, panic move, particularly when you compare it to the amount of leash that was given to White with the first unit.

[DuckIII]

The last thing I'll say is that I think we went away from the Vuk/Lauri frontcourt way too quickly. I still think it was an overreaction to a terrible first game against a smooth veteran team. Lauris best play was with a big center, Robin Lopez, that allowed him to crash the boards and attack closeouts. I also like Thad better as the hub center of the second unit, and which has playmaking is badly needed.

Changing the starting unit so quickly seemed like a shortsighted, panic move, particularly when you compare it to the amount of leash that was given to White with the first unit.

Maybe they should have given it more time. Maybe they’ll give it another look this season. But it’s hard to be too critical considering that the team played better after the switch.

It was definitely not a good move for Lauri. But for the team as a whole? What’s the argument that it was a step back on the court?

[ZOMG]

The last thing I'll say is that I think we went away from the Vuk/Lauri frontcourt way too quickly. I still think it was an overreaction to a terrible first game against a smooth veteran team. Lauris best play was with a big center, Robin Lopez, that allowed him to crash the boards and attack closeouts. I also like Thad better as the hub center of the second unit, and which has playmaking is badly needed.

Changing the starting unit so quickly seemed like a shortsighted, panic move, particularly when you compare it to the amount of leash that was given to White with the first unit.

Maybe they should have given it more time. Maybe they’ll give it another look this season. But it’s hard to be too critical considering that the team played better after the switch.

It was definitely not a good move for Lauri. But for the team as a whole? What’s the argument that it was a step back on the court?

Better??

We're 0-3 since the switch.