04-06-2021, 07:25 AM
From The Ringer. The do their Power Rankings with one question about each team for the rest of the season. The Bull question is about the fit of Markkanen:
21. Chicago Bulls | PR: 20 ↓
Is there any salvaging Lauri Markkanen?
Congratulations to the Bulls for getting their first win with Nikola Vucevic on Sunday against the Nets (without James Harden and Kevin Durant). During the win, they once again experimented using Markkanen at small forward. It hasn’t exactly gone well. Markkanen has a size advantage on offense, but only theoretically since he plays like he’s one foot shorter than he is by hovering around the perimeter. Defensively, he’s struggling to contain his assignments.
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan is throwing darts trying to figure out how to effectively fit Markkanen into his rotation. There’s a chance Markkanen can be a productive player, so the franchise is doing everything possible to see whether there’s a way to make things work with him.
But in his career, he’s been a slightly below-average shooter at 36 percent from 3 and he’s not much of a playmaker. He doesn’t rebound much for his size. And he doesn’t get many stops defensively. Markkanen isn’t a fit in Chicago. The question now is whether he’ll fit anywhere at all.
21. Chicago Bulls | PR: 20 ↓
Is there any salvaging Lauri Markkanen?
Congratulations to the Bulls for getting their first win with Nikola Vucevic on Sunday against the Nets (without James Harden and Kevin Durant). During the win, they once again experimented using Markkanen at small forward. It hasn’t exactly gone well. Markkanen has a size advantage on offense, but only theoretically since he plays like he’s one foot shorter than he is by hovering around the perimeter. Defensively, he’s struggling to contain his assignments.
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan is throwing darts trying to figure out how to effectively fit Markkanen into his rotation. There’s a chance Markkanen can be a productive player, so the franchise is doing everything possible to see whether there’s a way to make things work with him.
But in his career, he’s been a slightly below-average shooter at 36 percent from 3 and he’s not much of a playmaker. He doesn’t rebound much for his size. And he doesn’t get many stops defensively. Markkanen isn’t a fit in Chicago. The question now is whether he’ll fit anywhere at all.