If there was any doubt that Lauri Markkanen wouldn’t return to form this season, just look at how he has performed in the first four games of the season for the Utah Jazz. 34 points per game is impressive enough, but are you doing that with the vaunted 50/40/90 club? Markkanen has been quite efficient. He’s been such a wonder offensively that he’s making reads that even his teammates can’t keep up with.
Zach Lowe reflected on this during a conversation with Mo Dakhil about “The Zach Lowe Show,” harping on Markkanen’s genius on the offensive end.
“Lauri Markkanen, one of the most fun players for basketball nerds to watch because the amount of variety in his offball game is so amazing that he sometimes fools his own teammates,” Lowe said. “They pass places where they think he’s going to be, and he probably made the right read, but a read they didn’t expect.
“When someone shoots the opening, he breaks off his cut and flashes out for an open three. You turn him on with a middle pick-and-roll, he pins you to his top and rolls to the rim. He suddenly becomes a rim runner. He comes out of pindowns in the corner, sets a screen and then takes. It’s mind-boggling to try to follow through. He shoots the hell out of it.”
While his scoring numbers and efficiency will dip some as the season progresses (playing two overtime games certainly gave them a boost), they really aren’t far off from what he can do when playing at an All-Star level.
Markkanen is truly a unique player because of the way he can take advantage of his height and skills when defended. That’s why the Jazz didn’t hesitate to pay him whatever he wanted, and why they remained confident in him despite everything that happened last season.
That is the kind of player that is difficult for a team to part with.
Markkanen’s play could force Utah to keep him
Many have wondered if it’s in Utah’s best interest to keep him around as they’ve gotten younger. However, Markkanen is playing the best ball of his career this season, highlighted by his career-high scores against the Suns. If he keeps this up
The Jazz likely won’t make the playoffs this season, but they have shown four games into the season that they won’t continue like they did last season. That’s largely because Markkanen is looking like himself again, and that’s the kind of player a team won’t part with unless the player tells the team he wants out.
The longer the season goes on, the more the Jazz will get a better idea of the current team and its prospects. If the team takes a big step this season, there will be no need to tamper with a successful formula, but if it is clear that the team needs time to develop, then the Markkanen rumors will arise.
For now, the Jazz don’t have to think about it if they don’t want to. But better yet, they no longer have to worry about whether they overpaid the Finnish star.
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