Lauri Markkanen is showing that boom-or-bust potential through three games in Vegas

Just three summer league games into his young NBA career, we’re already on the Lauri Markkanen bust watch. What we’ve seen has been like preseason football; it hasn’t shown us a lot, but it’s something. So far, there’s a seething case for him being a true boom-or-bust prospect.

There’s an air around Lauri Markkanen, the Chicago Bulls’ first-round draft pick, that screams of a proverbial 50/50 ball.

Parts of each Bulls fan see a new Dirk Nowitzki and others who see Channing Frye. For the Nowitzki case, it’s the combination of the hard-to-spell last name and offensive prowess. On the other hand, the Frye case presents the offensive mindset, but a lack of defensive IQ.

What we have through three summer league outings out in Las Vegas?

I want to focus on the more recent pairings, although I’ll make a note of the first game. In the Bulls’ 91-75 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, was for a lack of a better word, fine. Scoring 14 points on 5-of-11 from the field (2-of-5 from 3), eight rebounds and two assists looked fine.

However, in the Bulls’ second game, a 75-55 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, we saw the “bust” emerge. His eight points were reasonable, but his 1-of-13 from the field and 0-of-10 from 3 was atrocious. Credit Markkanen for being good in other areas of the floor, as he still posted nine rebounds and a crazy four blocks in the contest.