Lauri Markkanen Discussion Thread: PT 2

[coldfish]

Ass.

NBA GM rule #406: If you have a restricted free agent, tell the world that you love him and want to keep him . . . no matter what.

I think it's in the best interest of both parties to move on.

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I would be absolutely stunned if Lauri is here next year.

I just think that the front office has incentive to hide that fact from other teams. If there is a chance the offer could get matched, teams will be more willing to work out a sign and trade that benefits Chicago (likely in a small way).

[BahamaBull]

Thanks for the memories Lauri...

Now go hoop elsewhere!

[Leslie Forman]

That's a really good breakdown of Lauri's weaknesses actually. Looking at the footage they give, he has VASTLY improved on most of those things.

Based on…what, exactly?

We can debate if it's enough improvement for the NBA level (imo enough to have a role in the league but still could improve) OR if the rate of improvement is poor (i'd agree with it. I was hoping for quicker improvement) but it'd be disingenuous to say he has improved 0%. The main weakness that is hard to improve is rim protection but I've always said he's a poor rim protector due to his length.

Okay.

He's improved about 2.6%, then.

[Louri]

Read on Twitter

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[WindyCityBorn]

Arturus said Markkanen is an important part of the team and he is looking forward to meeting with his reps. AK doesn’t like the kind of guy to BS so that statement is surprising. Maybe at a minimum they don’t expect to let him walk for nothing? Sign and trade?

[WindyCityBorn]

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Lauri has been a focal point most of his career as a Bull right along with Zach. That only changed the second half of this season after acquiring Vuc. If he is implying he was not a give a fair chance here that is a load of BS. He has come across as humble, but I’m detecting some salt here. Hopefully he keeps it classy no matter what happens.

[Neonblazer]

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Lauri has been a focal point most of his career as a Bull right along with Zach. That only changed the second half of this season after acquiring Vuc. If he is implying he was not a give a fair chance here that is a load of BS. He has come across as humble, but I’m detecting some salt here. Hopefully he keeps it classy no matter what happens.

If you read the article, it was mostly about the RFA which means that he can think for himself for a moment if there is something a team can offer to him. Because the first 4 years he has been thinking just about the needs of the Bulls not himself or what he might want from his career.

[Neonblazer]

Arturus said Markkanen is an important part of the team and he is looking forward to meeting with his reps. AK doesn’t like the kind of guy to BS so that statement is surprising. Maybe at a minimum they don’t expect to let him walk for nothing? Sign and trade?

AK wants to have Markkanen as bench player. With bench player salary of course.

[WindyCityBorn]

Read on Twitter

?s=21

Lauri has been a focal point most of his career as a Bull right along with Zach. That only changed the second half of this season after acquiring Vuc. If he is implying he was not a give a fair chance here that is a load of BS. He has come across as humble, but I’m detecting some salt here. Hopefully he keeps it classy no matter what happens.

If you read the article, it was mostly about the RFA which means that he can think for himself for a moment if there is something a team can offer to him. Because the first 4 years he has been thinking just about the needs of the Bulls not himself or what he might want from his career.

He is restricted so he is still under control of the Bulls. If he is just now thinking about what he wants from his career that explains the lack of substantial development.

[GoBlue72391]

Read on Twitter

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Lauri has been a focal point most of his career as a Bull right along with Zach. That only changed the second half of this season after acquiring Vuc. If he is implying he was not a give a fair chance here that is a load of BS. He has come across as humble, but I’m detecting some salt here. Hopefully he keeps it classy no matter what happens.

2017-18: 71.3 touches per game, second most behind Dunn (Zach barely played this season coming off ACL injury)

2018-19: 66.2 touches per game, second most behind Dunn and even ahead of Zach

2019-20: 45.3 touches per game, fifth most behind Zach, Sato, Coby, and Dunn

2020-21: 35.5 touches per game, eighth most behind Vuch, Zach, Coby, Thad, Sato, WCJ, and Otto

Is it a coincidence that the two seasons Lauri looked the most promising was when he received "focal point" touches? My guess is no, and if he goes to a team that allows him to receive top three most touches per game, aka a "focal point", I expect him to become the player we all wished and expected him to become.

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[WindyCityBorn]

Read on Twitter

?s=21

Lauri has been a focal point most of his career as a Bull right along with Zach. That only changed the second half of this season after acquiring Vuc. If he is implying he was not a give a fair chance here that is a load of BS. He has come across as humble, but I’m detecting some salt here. Hopefully he keeps it classy no matter what happens.

2017-18: 71.3 touches per game, second most behind Dunn (Zach barely played this season coming off ACL injury)

2018-19: 66.2 touches per game, second most behind Dunn and even ahead of Zach

2019-20: 45.3 touches per game, fifth most behind Zach, Sato, Coby, and Dunn

2020-21: 35.5 touches per game, eighth most behind Vuch, Zach, Coby, Thad, Sato, WCJ, and Otto

Is it a coincidence that the two seasons Lauri looked the most promising was when he received "focal point" touches? My guess is no, and if he goes to a team that allows him to receive top three most touches per game, aka a "focal point", I expect him to become the player we all wished and expected him to become.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using RealGM mobile app

I seriously doubt he leaves and becomes a more athletic Dirk. That is what we wished and expected after his rookie season. I don’t think anyone seriously believes that will. I don’t think you can successfully run a offense through Lauri either.

[GoBlue72391]

Lauri has been a focal point most of his career as a Bull right along with Zach. That only changed the second half of this season after acquiring Vuc. If he is implying he was not a give a fair chance here that is a load of BS. He has come across as humble, but I’m detecting some salt here. Hopefully he keeps it classy no matter what happens.

2017-18: 71.3 touches per game, second most behind Dunn (Zach barely played this season coming off ACL injury)

2018-19: 66.2 touches per game, second most behind Dunn and even ahead of Zach

2019-20: 45.3 touches per game, fifth most behind Zach, Sato, Coby, and Dunn

2020-21: 35.5 touches per game, eighth most behind Vuch, Zach, Coby, Thad, Sato, WCJ, and Otto

Is it a coincidence that the two seasons Lauri looked the most promising was when he received "focal point" touches? My guess is no, and if he goes to a team that allows him to receive top three most touches per game, aka a "focal point", I expect him to become the player we all wished and expected him to become.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using RealGM mobile app

I seriously doubt he leaves and becomes a more athletic Dirk. That is what we wished and expected after his rookie season. I don’t think anyone seriously believes that will. I don’t think you can successfully run a offense through Lauri either.

No reasonable person expects that, but in the right situation I think he can top out at 21-23 PPG, 8-10 RPG, with near 50/40/90 splits, a more versatile offensive game than what we've seen the past two years, and passable defense.

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[Red8911]

Arturus said Markkanen is an important part of the team and he is looking forward to meeting with his reps. AK doesn’t like the kind of guy to BS so that statement is surprising. Maybe at a minimum they don’t expect to let him walk for nothing? Sign and trade?

Yeah didn’t expect AK to say that . Question is was he actually telling the truth that he wants and values Lauri or is he playing games? Donovan also said good things about him but Lauri himself made it seem like he will explore his options.

I don’t think he will stay unless he is cheap with a one or two year contract. Most likely he just signs somewhere else though or as you said maybe the Bulls work out a sign and trade.

[WindyCityBorn]

2017-18: 71.3 touches per game, second most behind Dunn (Zach barely played this season coming off ACL injury)

2018-19: 66.2 touches per game, second most behind Dunn and even ahead of Zach

2019-20: 45.3 touches per game, fifth most behind Zach, Sato, Coby, and Dunn

2020-21: 35.5 touches per game, eighth most behind Vuch, Zach, Coby, Thad, Sato, WCJ, and Otto

Is it a coincidence that the two seasons Lauri looked the most promising was when he received "focal point" touches? My guess is no, and if he goes to a team that allows him to receive top three most touches per game, aka a "focal point", I expect him to become the player we all wished and expected him to become.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using RealGM mobile app

I seriously doubt he leaves and becomes a more athletic Dirk. That is what we wished and expected after his rookie season. I don’t think anyone seriously believes that will. I don’t think you can successfully run a offense through Lauri either.

No reasonable person expects that, but in the right situation I think he can top out at 21-23 PPG, 8-10 RPG, with near 50/40/90 splits, a more versatile offensive game than what we've seen the past two years, and passable defense.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using RealGM mobile app

If that was a reasonable expectation AK would not even think of letting him walk.

[kodo]

I'd like to keep him if the competing offers are cheap enough.

40% 3 point shooting bigs really aren't a dime a dozen, and certainly not something you can get with our minimal cap space.
The list of players 6' 10" who score at least 13 ppg while maintaining 40% from 3:
- Lauri (TBD)
- Gallinari ($20M)
- Michael Porter Jr (rookie scale)
- Vucevic ($26M)
- Kevin Durant ($39M)

A big factor is I just don't see much to get excited over in this summer's FA, especially for a team not even close to offering a max contract. Another factor is many sharpshooters are terrible finishing near the rim while Lauri is elite. Overall, the guy is scoring at 62% TS which is extremely high, far higher than Vuc (55%) or anyone else on the team not named Zach (who is only 1% higher).

Losing him for nothing and replacing him with another Luke Kornet would be the worst outcome.

[GoBlue72391]

I seriously doubt he leaves and becomes a more athletic Dirk. That is what we wished and expected after his rookie season. I don’t think anyone seriously believes that will. I don’t think you can successfully run a offense through Lauri either.

No reasonable person expects that, but in the right situation I think he can top out at 21-23 PPG, 8-10 RPG, with near 50/40/90 splits, a more versatile offensive game than what we've seen the past two years, and passable defense.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using RealGM mobile app

If that was a reasonable expectation AK would not even think of letting him walk.

Well for the record, I don't think Lauri will be capable of getting to that level if he remains a Bull. Not with the way things are situated now. And there's no guarantee he will on another team either, but it's a definite possibility.

I'm sure AK recognizes his talents, but given his passive, team first nature AK will likely take the gamble of letting Lauri go with the expectation that he'll never reach his full potential. Besides, PWill is our new talented but stubbornly passive project we're focusing on.

It wouldn't be the first time a young player finally reached his potential after leaving his first team.

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[WindyCityBorn]

No reasonable person expects that, but in the right situation I think he can top out at 21-23 PPG, 8-10 RPG, with near 50/40/90 splits, a more versatile offensive game than what we've seen the past two years, and passable defense.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using RealGM mobile app

If that was a reasonable expectation AK would not even think of letting him walk.

Well for the record, I don't think Lauri will be capable of getting to that level if he remains a Bull. Not with the way things are situated now. And there's no guarantee he will on another team either, but it's a definite possibility.

I'm sure AK recognizes his talents, but given his passive, team first nature AK will likely take the gamble of letting Lauri go with the expectation that he'll never reach his full potential. Besides, PWill is our new talented but stubbornly passive project we're focusing on.

It wouldn't be the first time a young player finally reached his potential after leaving his first team.

Sent from my SM-S115DL using RealGM mobile app

It absolutely wouldn’t be the first time and I would not be just shocked if it happened. We see it with Randle on the Knicks right now and Grant on the Pistons. I don’t think it is reasonable expectation though. More like not beyond the realm of possibility.

[the ultimates]

If Lauri becomes a focal point somewhere else it's because he improved his individual ability to score for himself by creating shots for himself or others. Guys like Lauri who are three-point shooters but can't get that shot for themselves are not focal points of an offense so they will never get a high number of touches.

The play-in/playoffs are about to start. Tell me a focal point, high touch/ high volume player, first or second option that's as limited as Lauri is but the team running a lot of offense through them or for them.

[Wingy]

I'm just sad that our posting pace is too slow to reach PT 3 for this good, but not worth this much energy player.

[FranchisePlayer]

I'd like to keep him if the competing offers are cheap enough.

40% 3 point shooting bigs really aren't a dime a dozen, and certainly not something you can get with our minimal cap space.
The list of players 6' 10" who score at least 13 ppg while maintaining 40% from 3:
- Lauri (TBD)
- Gallinari ($20M)
- Michael Porter Jr (rookie scale)
- Vucevic ($26M)
- Kevin Durant ($39M)

A big factor is I just don't see much to get excited over in this summer's FA, especially for a team not even close to offering a max contract. Another factor is many sharpshooters are terrible finishing near the rim while Lauri is elite. Overall, the guy is scoring at 62% TS which is extremely high, far higher than Vuc (55%) or anyone else on the team not named Zach (who is only 1% higher).

Losing him for nothing and replacing him with another Luke Kornet would be the worst outcome.

You provided very interesting stats and points, much obliged!