Chicago Bulls: Lauri Markkanen early Summer League review

The Chicago Bulls acquired Lauri Markkanen at the No. 7 spot via a draft-night trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. So far, he has been holding his own in Summer League play.

After suffering through five first-round exits in their last eight trips to the postseason, the Chicago Bulls have opted to start from scratch. The first step taken in the long-awaited rebuild was the addition of Lauri Markkanen, who the Bulls acquired in a draft-night trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

During his lone season with the Arizona Wildcats, Markkanen averaged 15.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest. In addition to that, Markkanen shot a respectable 42 percent from beyond the arc.

Being that Markkanen has stretch-4 potential — combined with the fact the Bulls finished 24th in three-point shooting last season — the two sides appear to be a good match. At least on paper, anyway.

Although he was considered one of the top shooters in this year’s draft, Markkanen would have to prove that he could hold his own in Summer League. As is the case with most rookies, there have been a few early setbacks.

However, Markkanen has showed some flashes of potential as well. In his Summer League debut against the Dallas Mavericks, he got off to a sizzling start, scoring nine points in the opening quarter, as his first two baskets came on a pair of dunks.

While the Bulls did go on to lose 91-75, Markkannen led the way with 14 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. He also shot 5-for-11 from the field.

Unfortunately, his next outing against the Atlanta Hawks was one he would like to forget. In a 75-55 drubbing, Markkanen scored eight points and pulled down nine boards. However, he missed 12 of his 13 shot attempts overall and he was an abysmal 0-for-10 from three-point range.

Not only that, but the Bulls missed 15 of their first 16 shots and shot a bewildering 4-for-35 from distance. Taking those numbers into consideration, it should be considered an achievement that the final margin wasn’t greater than 20 points.

One thing that is important in sports — as well as in life — is the ability to overcome failure. So how did Markkanen respond to what was probably the worst game of his young career?

Quite nicely.

He notched his first double-double in the Bulls’ next game, scoring 20 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. While he didn’t have a great shooting night overall (6-for-17), his 4-for-10 effort from deep was a considerable improvement from the previous outing against the Hawks.

Behind a solid effort from Markkanen, the Bulls finally broke into the win column, defeating the Washington Wizards 82-73.

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The bad news is Markannen has endured his fair share of struggles through the first three Summer League contests, to say the least. In fact, he has shot just 12-for-41 overall, which equates to a less-than-impressive 29.3 percent shooting from the field.

The narrative is even more grim from beyond the arc, as Markkanen has connected on six of his 25 attempts from distance — a conversion rate of just 24 percent. These are not the kind of numbers one would expect from a player who has drawn comparisons to future Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki.

On the other side of the coin, he is just 19 years old, which means there is plenty of time for Markkanen to hone his craft. Secondly, despite the fact he is not considered a solid rim protector, he has shown improvement in this area as well.

During his one season in college, Markkanen averaged 0.5 blocks per game. In his last two outings, the Bulls’ rookie has blocked five shots.

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Needless to say, this a step in the right direction, even if it is in Summer League play. If he can continue to improve, Markkanen will be a bright spot for a Bulls team that will endure its fair share of growing pains next season.