Chicago Bulls: Lauri Markkanen ranked on B/R’s top 25 under 25

Chicago Bulls rising star Lauri Markkanen recently made Bleacher Report’s list of the top 25 players in the NBA under 25 years old. Was his ranking too low?

Bleacher Report recently published an article by Adam Fromal ranking the top 25 players in the NBA that are under the age of 25. Lauri Markkanen came in at No. 24 leaving the Chicago Bulls well represented, but I think his ranking was too low.

Deandre Ayton was the last player to earn a ranking on this list coming in at No. 25. It’s a bit of an honor for Lauri Markkanen to be ranked ahead of the 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick. Another way to look at it, though, is that Ayton has never played an actual NBA game and Markkanen set records during his rookie year so there would be no reason to rank Ayton ahead of Markkanen.

The top of this list is absolutely star-studded which speaks to how much young talent is currently in the NBA. It’s easy to forget how young guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid are because of the success that they’ve had already. Both guys are still under 25 years old and ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on this list, respectively.

I have no real problems with the top of this list, besides the fact that I think Devin Booker is ranked too low at No. 9. It’s really Lauri Markkanen’s ranking that I have a problem with. Maybe that’s because I’m a Bulls fan which makes me naturally biased, but maybe not.

A few guys ranked higher than Lauri Markkanen are Luka Doncic, Fred VanVleet and Taurean Prince. 

While Luka Doncic has played the same amount of NBA games as Deandre Ayton, I think it’s fine to have him ranked higher than Markkanen. His professional accomplishments in Europe warrant him being ranked highly.

Before I get into this, I want to acknowledge that I like Fred VanVleet and Taurean Prince and that I’m nitpicking but it’s absurd to have those two ranked higher than Markkanen.

VanVleet is a quality backup point guard – one of the best in the league – but what’s his ceiling? Maybe he’s a starting point guard in a few years? Markkanen averaged nearly double the points and triple the rebounds that VanVleet averaged during the 2017-18 NBA season. Markkanen also has a sky-high ceiling that could lead to him being a perennial All-Star at some point. I like VanVleet and he deserves to be on this list but not ahead of Lauri.

Prince was closer in production to Markkanen (still averaged fewer points and rebounds) but is still far from Markkanen’s ceiling. Both Prince and Markkanen had nice 2017-18 seasons but Markkanen showcased a lot more star potential. Plus, it’s not like the Hawks were any good this year. They were even worse than the Bulls.

I feel bad when I nitpick this much because the reality is they’re all nice players and in a few years, a lot can change. They were also all ranked really close to each other – it’s not like VanVleet was ranked No. 4 overall – I just want Lauri to get the respect he deserves.

Markkanen was overlooked during the 2017 NBA draft and it still feels like he’s being overlooked despite his stellar rookie season. Maybe an impressive sophomore year will help Lauri climb his way up the ladder.

For the complete list and the full Bleacher Report article, click here.