Chicago Bulls: 3 areas where Lauri Markkanen needs to improve the most

2. Continue to only rely on shot creation from inside the arc

As time moves along, it is becoming abundantly clear that Markkanen is going to be a rhythm shooter that does not create his own looks from beyond the three-point line. Of the three-point field goals he made in the season that was, a career-high 99.1 percent of those were assisted. He has always had a lot of his three-point attempts assisted, but never that many in his previous two years in the league.

Markkanen does get a bit more proficient at creating his own looks when he’s within 6-10 feet, at the furthest, from the rim. But only 46.4 percent of his field goal attempts last season came from two-point range. He is hitting his two-pointers off no dribbles at a clip of 63.6 percent and his with seven+ dribbles at 53.8 percent.

Although when Markkanen starts to hesitate and he’s draped with defenders, then his shooting percentages really start to falter. He hit his pull-up two-point field goal attempts last season at a clip of just under 24.0 percent. And his two-point field goal percentage drops below 44.0 percent when he takes between two-to-six dribbles.

When he’s in a better rhythm and is allowed to have confidence as either a secondary ball handler, or a catch-and-shoot stretch big threat, Markkanen starts to do his best work. He found himself more in that role two seasons ago, when he also was two-percent better than the league average in three-point shooting percentage and 14.0 percent better from the free-throw line.

Draw up more plays for Markkanen where he has a clearly defined role, and make sure he’s got a player on the floor that is going to space it out for him and not place an over-reliance on his creating ability.