Chicago Bulls: Lauri Markkanen ranked No. 84 on SI.com’s top 100

Chicago Bulls star forward Lauri Markkanen recently came in at No. 84 on SI.com’s list of the top 100 NBA players. Was this ranking accurate?

Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen has taken the league by storm.

Drafted 7th overall in the 2017 NBA draft, Markkanen was already being labeled as a terrible draft pick before he even played an NBA game. Of course, that all changed once he actually suited up for the Bulls.

Markkanen averaged 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game during his rookie year, earning him a spot on the All-Rookie first team. That’s not too bad for a guy who was getting compared former lottery busts on draft night.

Ben Golliver and Rob Mahoney of SI.com recently published their list of the top 100 NBA players. Unlike many fellow players from the 2017 draft class, Lauri made the list, coming in at No. 84.

It’s an honor for Lauri to make the list, but just like every other opinion-based list, there are some parts of it that I agree with and some parts that I disagree with. I felt as though it was a huge compliment to “The Finnisher” to rank him higher than a few specific players, but I also felt like it was a slap in the face to have some specific players ranked higher than him.

Let’s dissect some of that.

Biggest compliment

Like I said earlier, there were a few really good players that Lauri got ranked ahead of. Guys like Dejounte Murray, Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball and Dennis Smith Jr. all jump out to me, but the biggest compliment comes from ranking Markkanen three spots ahead of Andre Iguodala.

Andre Iguodala averaged 6.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game during the 2017-18 NBA season. His stats really aren’t close to Markkanen’s, so you have to look deeper than that to see why this is such a big compliment.

Iguodala is a 3x NBA champ and isn’t that far removed from being the NBA Finals MVP. While his statistical averages don’t jump off the page, the eye test is still pretty good for Iguodala, especially considering he’s 34 years old. His defense is elite and he’s a savvy veteran that any team would be lucky to have on their roster.

If you’re wondering how good Iguodala still is, just take a look at how valuable he is to the best team in the league. That should tell you all you need to know.

Biggest slap in the face

There are only a couple guys ranked ahead of Markkanen that I think are worse than him, but the most obvious one to me is Domantas Sabonis.

Don’t get me wrong, Sabonis had a breakout year during the 2017-18 season and I really like him. I think he has a chance at being a really solid role player in the league for a long time.

But to rank him five spots higher than Markkanen? Come on.

Last year, Sabonis averaged 11.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Those are solid numbers but they aren’t solid enough to justify his ranking. I know numbers don’t tell the whole story (like I was saying with Iguodala), but he doesn’t pass the eye test as a better player than Markkanen, either.

I get that the Pacers won 48 games and the Bulls only won 27. That should matter – and it does – but Sabonis had a really nice supporting cast led by Victor Oladipo while Markkanen had a rebuilding Bulls squad plagued with injuries. If the roles were switched, I think Markkanen would have been a force in Indiana. I’m not sure the same can be said about Sabonis.

I think Domantas Sabonis is a really good player and he deserves to be on this list, just not ahead of Markkanen.