Chicago Bulls: Lauri Markkanen looking to snap out of recent slump
Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen has hit the proverbial rookie wall. Despite his recent stretch of poor play, there is reason for optimism.
Chicago Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen has exceeded expectations since the team acquired him as part of the Jimmy Butler trade during the offseason. After playing inconsistent basketball during NBA Summer League action, he responded by playing well during the EuroBasket 2017 tournament with averages of 19.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest.
When Nikola Mirotic was named as the starter coming into the season, the plan was to bring Markkanen along at a deliberate pace so he could learn the differences between the NBA game and his lone collegiate season in Arizona. That all changed, though, when Mirotic and Bobby Portis were involved in an altercation two days before the season began.
The result of this unfortunate exchange between two of the team’s rotational players was Markkanen being inserted into the starting lineup. Despite being given a larger role earlier than what was planned, Markkanen has proven his value almost from day one.
Not only did Markkanen quiet the whispers about whether his perimeter game would translate at the next level, he has also shown the ability to take the ball to the rim when opposing teams try to take away the 3-point shot. That, combined with the fact that Markkanen has also developed a nice post-up game makes him a difficult player to guard on any given night.
Since the All-Star break, however, things have been gone south for the rookie. After heading into the break with a streak of 21 consecutive games in which he scored in double figures, Markkanen has scored just three points in each of his last two contests. On top of that, his shooting percentages in those outings have been awful as the rookie forward has converted just two of his last 16 attempts from the field (12.5 percent) while shooting 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.
If it were only two games that we were talking about, this sentiment would be a knee-jerk reaction. But if you take a closer look, Markkanen’ struggles go back further than these recent outings. In his best month of the season, he posted averages of 17.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per contest on 47.8 percent shooting overall and 43.2 percent from long range in January.
In February, his scoring has dipped to 10.8 points per outing and he is shooting just 36.6 percent overall, including a less-than-impressive 14.8 percent clip from 3-point range. Considering that Markkanen has done everything with relative ease during his rookie campaign, it is possible that his recent slump could be mental as much as physical — something not lost on head coach Fred Hoiberg.
"‘‘He’s struggling right now with his confidence, there’s no question about it,’’ Hoiberg told the Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘As a shooter, you’ve got to keep looking to be aggressive. Take the open ones and take the lid off the basket. It only takes one game to get that confidence back.’’"
Another factor that could be contributing to Markkanen’s dip in production is the lineup change that was recently implemented at the request of the front office. In the previous starting unit, Markkanen played well alongside Robin Lopez (who is expected to play a reduced role going forward) and according to NBC Sports Chicago’s Vincent Goodwill, Lopez assisted on 39 field goals, which was tied for second on the team behind Kris Dunn.
Keeping that stat in mind, it is safe to say Markkanen isn’t getting the same kinds of looks in the revamped lineup as he was getting before. That’s the bad news.
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On the flip side of the equation, although 23 games isn’t a lot time to get himself acclimated to a starting lineup that will remain fluid down the stretch, Markkanen has already demonstrated the ability to bounce back from rough stretches and there’s no reason to believe he’s incapable of snapping out this recent slump sooner rather than later.