The Chicago Bulls selected Lauri Markkanen from the University of Arizona with the seventh pick in the 2017 NBA draft. The Bulls should have looked elsewhere with that selection.
Lauri Markkanen is a 7-foot forward from the University of Arizona that was born in Finland. The Bulls acquired him through their trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, sending Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 pick to Minnesota. In return, Chicago received Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and the No. 7 pick.
It’s important to evaluate Markkanen on his own merits, not in the context of “this is who is replacing Jimmy Butler.” There’s a part of me that believes Bulls fans will be quick to be harsh on Markkanen simply because he had the misfortune of being the player selected in the Jimmy Butler trade.
However, there are basketball reasons Chicago fans should be displeased with their first round selection.
Markkanen was a below average rebounder in college and that problem isn’t going away in the NBA. In college, Markkanen snagged 14 percent of available rebounds when he was on the court.
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That figure wouldn’t see him crack the top 100 players in the NBA in rebound percentage. It would in fact, put him right beside Dirk Nowitzki, who also grabbed 14 percent of available rebounds last season. Dirk isn’t noted for his rebounding, especially as his career comes to a close.
While Markkanen’s shooting and offensive game will give Fred Hoiberg a nice new toy to work with, his defense has a lot of room to improve.
Markkanen averaged one block per 100 possessions in college. That would put him behind noted rim protectors Kris Humphries, Channing Frye and Chicago’s very own Dwyane Wade in blocks per 100 possessions.
Numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Allow the good people over at DraftExpress to expand on what Markkanen struggles with defensively.
"Defensively, Markkanen is a mixed bag. He shows solid agility, good footwork when closing out, and does a nice job positioning himself against smaller players after switching, but his lack of length limits him as a shot blocker, he struggles at times defending more physical big men on the block, and he is just an average rebounder."
Teams will try to exploit Markkanen in the post this year, screening to make him guard its best post player. Thinking about him trying to guard Karl Anthony-Towns or Zach Randolph in the post is nightmarish, but thankfully, there aren’t too many players with skilled enough back-to-the-basket games to take advantage.
Markkanen will get toasted in the pick-and-roll this season, but that’s to be expected of a rookie. Give him some time to study NBA offenses and work on PnR coverage and he could develop into a passable defender.
While Chicago could have used this to draft an actual point guard of the future (hello, Dennis Smith Jr.), the front office clearly thinks that one of the bazillion point guards the Bulls currently have on the roster will develop into a top player.
Next: Grading the Markkanen pick for the Bulls at No. 7
Keeping that in mind, the Bulls could have done worse with this pick. Remove the caveats, and they could have done better.