3. Lauri’s third year regression
This team roster was built on the assumption that Markkanen would average around about 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. Not an unreasonable assumption, considering last year he averaged 18.7 points and 9 rebounds per game through 52 games. In 2018, he shot the ball with 43 percent accuracy, including a 36.1 percent clip from beyond the arc.
Fast forward to this year and here are the numbers: 14.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 37.8 fg, 32 3pt. His turnovers are also up as it seems every time he puts the ball on the floor in the half court offense, it’s a steal for the enemy team.
Those missed shots really add up for someone taking almost 12 shots a game, and the missed possessions as we give up 11 offensive rebounds per game, hurt even more. More on that in a bit.
If Lauri shot the same exact percentage from two point field goal attempts, three point field goal attempts, and free throw attempts as last season (47.9 percent, 36.1 percent, and 87.2 percent respectively), he would still only be averaging 15.6 points per game. So there is certainly some blame to be placed on his lack of usage, which is down 3.5% from last season, on an individual level.
However, keep in mind that if you give Lauri more usage, you have to take it away from somewhere else. The way he has been playing, do you really want to increase his usage and lose even worse?
I actually had this higher on my list of Bulls problems until the last stretch of 5 games. Outside of the last stinker vs. the Raptors, he’s been starting to turn it around and as a result, the Bulls have been 2-3 and are just one or two possessions away in each game from being 5-0 during that span, with a 1 point loss to the Raptors, a two-point loss to the Warriors, and an overtime loss (regulation tie) with the Heat.
This is one that actually has solved itself, with Lauri playing better, so there are more pressing concerns to which we need to turn our attention. Still, Lauri needs to continue to elevate his play for this team to succeed. It’s absolutely vital.