Chicago Bulls: 4 players that can join NBA leader boards this season
By Abe Rotbart
No. 1 Lauri Markkanen has a shot to be among the league leaders in three-point attempts
There is no secret in Chicago regarding who Gar Forman and John Paxson would like to see become a superstar. When they traded Jimmy Butler two years ago, it was because they wanted to draft Lauri Markkanen, a 7-foot-1 power forward who can shoot lights out from beyond the arch. The theory is if he shot .423 percent at Arizona, that should only improve with more experience.
The current Bulls roster is tailor made to opening up the outside game for Markkanen. Last year he and Zach LaVine were seen as the only real scoring options.
The Bulls have added Otto Porter Jr., Thad Young, Tomas Satoransky and Coby White. All should get a large chunk of minutes complimenting Markkanen with a team first mentality and understanding he is the teams best shooter.
The key here will be keeping Zach LaVine happy. Critics of LaVines game say he shoots too much. If he does not become more of a team first player, it will continue to limit Markkanens development.
Truth is both players last year took too many bad shots. Truth is LaVine even shot a higher percentage from three. Truth is a stretch four is more valuable shooting the three because he draws the defense out and opens the court for others.
That is what the Bulls want. They want teams consumed with stopping Markkanen’s outside game and that is why they want him shooting more. Critics of Markkanen’s game justifiably say he often disappears. That cannot happen anymore.
The ideal scenario would be Markkanen taking about 20 shots a game with half coming from beyond three. If the Bulls can make that happen, and Markkanen shoots like he is capable, the sky is the limit for him.
The leaders in three point attempts will probably continue to be Harden, Paul George and Steph Curry. Markkanen’s value though is based on being a stretch four. He should be able to crack the top 10 in attempts per game.
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If he repeats his poor shooting performance of last year, he may become trade bait after the season. If he can become the player the Bulls hoped for, the trade for Jimmy Butler will pay dividends for years to come.