Are the young guns of the Chicago Bulls not getting enough attention? New ranking suggests their core pieces are undervalued. Here’s why they’re wrong.
The young talent on the Chicago Bulls have made huge strides as of late. Yesterday, however, ESPN’s group of NBA Insiders took a crack at ranking the league’s budding superstars under the age of 25. Chicago’s own Lauri Markkanen wound up at No. 13, while Zach LaVine did not make the cut. The primary criteria used when constructing the list was future potential and current output. Considering this, I believe ESPN’s experts have egregiously underrated the core of Chicago’s rebuild. But we’ll get to that later; First, here’s a look at ESPN’s list created by three of their analysts:
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
2. Joel Embiid
3. Nikola Jokic
4. Karl-Anthony Towns
5. Ben Simmons
6. Luka Doncic
7. Donovan Mitchell
8. Jayson Tatum
9. De’Aaron Fox
10. Devin Booker
11. Kristaps Porzingis
12. Pascal Siakam
13. (Tied) D’Angelo Russell, Lauri Markkanen
15. Clint Capela
16. Jaren Jackson Jr.
17. (Tied) Jamal Murray, Deandre Ayton
19. John Collins
20. Jusuf Nurkic
21. (Tied) Marvin Bagley III, Caris Levert, Kyle Kuzma
24. Lonzo Ball
25. Jaylen Brown
Not only is ESPN claiming that there are 13 players in the league with as much or more potential as Markkanen, they are arguing that he’s only the 4th best player in his own draft class. Of the entire 2017 draft class, Lauri is averaging the 2nd most points, 2nd most rebounds, and leads all other starters that attempt at least one 3-point shot a game in 3P% this year. When compared to the other 2nd-year players above him (Mitchell, Tatum, and Fox), Lauri has the highest PER, TS%, and eFG% of the entire group.
Keeping in mind that Markkanen spent the beginning of the year recouping from an elbow injury, he has only improved as the year has progressed. In the last 30 days, ‘The Finnisher’ is averaging a blistering 24.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. A healed elbow, the addition of Otto Porter Jr., and the improved coaching of Jim Boylen seem to have unlocked the full potential of Chicago’s 7-foot marksman. It would be foolish to wager against Lauri breaking into the top 10 and possibly even higher on this list next year.
As for LaVine, he has been cast aside at the hands of national media outlets yet again. Here’s how the high-flying athlete compares statistically to other young guards who earned their place on this list:
Zach LaVine: 23.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, on shooting splits of .463/.366/.858
No. 10 Devin Booker: 24.6 points, 4 rebounds, 6.7 assists, on shooting splits of .457/.326/.852
No. 17 Jamal Murray: 18.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5 assists, on shooting splits of .431/.370/.840
No. 25 Jaylen Brown: 12.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, on shooting splits of .452/.324/.680
The numbers here speak for themselves, Zach has established himself this year as a player close to Booker’s caliber. At this point in time, there is not much reason for any GM in the league to have more confidence in a player like Jaylen Brown becoming better than LaVine will. Best of all, LaVine is still only 23! Just one year older than Brown. According to the stats above, LaVine is the most efficient of the group. LaVine’s also sitting pretty in the advanced stats department, as he has a higher PER, TS% and VoRP (Value over Replacement Player) than the rest of the group.
As the Bulls prepare to travel to Memphis, they must make the most of the remaining 21 games on the schedule, proving their building blocks truly are budding into perennial stars.