Lauri Markannen’s future

 I don’t think he could be the best player on a good team.  I think he is more of a 2nd best player on a team.

 Andrea Bargnani.

 Best player or leading scorer ? As there is a difference and he isn’t a great rebounder or defender I will assume you mean leading scorer.

On a contending team he could be a third or fourth highest scorer.

With Lavine, Dunn, Jabari Parker and now Wendell Carter I don’t know if Laurri can put up 15ppg again.

 Can’t be Batman, can be Robin 

 ability to improve the areas in which he can improve – for example 3pt shooting.Lauri was an impressive 36% fg% from 3pt range his Rookie season 

And w/ the additions the Bulls made in the Draft (Wendel Carter) & Freee Agency (Jabari Parker) Lauri Markannen’s role on the club comes into clearer focus 

Carter is a Really good looking Rookie Center who should take the pressure to play Defense in the paint & Rim protect away from Markennan – w/ the addition of Parker, the pressure to be an elite scorer also resolves itself – mainly b/c Markennan just does not have the ability to be a #1 scorer on an NBA playoff caliber team 

Chicago has a nice young starting unit of Kriss Dunn, Zach Lavin, Jabari Parker (at the Wing I am guessing), Lauri Markannen & Wendell Carter 

The only problem is that Parker seems incapable of playing the WIng at the NBA level – Defensively Parker has been a Disaster so this willl put Enormous pressure on the other players 

So on Paper this looks like the Bulls made major strides in a very short short time period but this may be a situation where Chicago Management is too hasty & by doing so they end up crushing two very good younger players in back to back Drafts (Markennan & Carter) 

 The best player on this team(Bulls): Short answer no as Managment is possibly making that very hard for him due to all the weird fits and these players will either a) think they are better than they actually are or b) Try play stupidly-Jack shots,try inflate stats for their next pay day. Making for no way to clearly establish himself as the player they are actually building around.

However could he the best player on a good team:

Lets say he ended up on Dallas and they were a playoff team for arguments sake(possibly would be a great fit) He could possibly be the best player on that team as he could be mentored by Dirk(a sort of similar player) and coached by Rick C who could maximize his skill set due to having had Dirk play for him in his prime. Even with Luka D and DSJr he would possibly be able to elevate his game on this team to show his full skill set off.

But if you put him on a team like a lets say OKC or Houston he may not look as good or even be able to look any better than a 2nd to 4th option..

So really it honestly comes down to the coach and personell that is put around him to what level he could reach..

I have him somewhere between Dirk and Keith Van Horn. He can absolutely be a #1 on a playoff team. He’s much more active and a better athlete and ballhandler than he’s given credit for.

I’m excited to see the next step in his development, he’s shown glimpses of a good post and iso game. He’s the focal point of the rebuild for the Bulls FO, and Now with added strength and a year of experience under his belt he should put up close to 20-10 this yr

 Dirk didn’t take as many shots so Markannen’s 15ppg is clearly going to be better than Dirk’s 

But FTA’s per game is very similar & those kind of obscure stats tell if a guy can beat his man off the dribble / create his own shot 

Markannen’s shooting %%%’s are better than Dirk’s rookie year too

Now in Dirk’s 2nd year he really made a massive jump to a very formidable Pro – getting to the Free Throw line nearly 5X per game & his FG% from 3 & overall jumped considerably 

No can predict Dirk level b/c Dirk is an All time great but Lauri had a fantastic Rookie year & this year we should get a better idea but he def has the raw skills to be something special

 I agree he is more a top running mate than a franchise cornerstone. Zach is likely to be the top scorer on that team but Lauri can be a good 2nd option and with his 3 point range has the ability to be a a regular 20ppg type scorer. I don’t see him being such a good scorer as Dirk was at his peak but few are, I could see him being a Pau Gasol type scorer putting up lots of 18 to 21 ppg range seasons.

He can learn defence and his size will be useful as a perimeter defender with Carter as the longterm defensive anchor. The team may go smallball or uptempo and use Lauri as a 5 on occasion especially if they are chasing a game.