Lauri Markkanen Chicago Bulls
Photo: Elsa/Getty Images

The NBA is one of the most-watched and one of the most popular events all around the world. It is no surprise that thousands of people are in front of the screens and watching their favorite event and the game. The NBA is also one of the top destinations and dreams for every basketball player. Many great names have been heard from the NBA show and many famous people have been discovered on the NBA matches. This is something that is very important to acknowledge and millions of people and thousands of sportsmen use the NBA as their main inspiration and motivation. 

Many players have started their careers in different teams and have ended up in the NBA, with pride and great honor. Those people playing out there make a true history, which is watched and observed by millions. The next on his way to fame is Lauri Markkanen, who has been chosen to play for Chicago Bulls and is the seventh pick for the NBA draft. There are a lot of doubts and a lot of questions still, but for now, the pick is very much verified and approved. 

Lauri is a 23 old basketball player from Finland. The Scandinavian origin for the basketball player is not very common to the industry. There are not many basketball players who originated from Scandinavian countries and are as famous as getting to the NBA. Lauri has a great chance to represent not only his country but also to make great history. We have all of this still ahead of us. 

The 23-year-old Lauri is very young for the great start of his career. His whole case is even more exciting, whenever we get informed that he is 2 meters and 13cm high, which is extremely high even for the basketball player. Moreover, it is very hard to play at this high, which is very uncomfortable at the same time. Markkanen managed to get married in the same year, when he was chosen for the draft for the NBA player, back in 2014. He even has a son, who is so far one of his biggest supporters and fans, who is almost always present in his games with his mother. 

History does not repeat 

Major concerns about Lauri raised when we recall the previous picks for the NBA, which unfortunately for the player turned out to be very inefficient and wrong in some sense. To find Chicago’s last successful draft pick, we need to go back to 2011, when the Bulls selected Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotić in the first round. True, then the team was fundamentally different: one of the best clubs in the East with Derrick Rose, who received MVP, and Tom Thibodeau. And this is everything considering that the Bulls had not had any lucky drafts for over 5 years already. But who knows perhaps Lauri is the one to break the cycle. 

Not only it is about the basketball industry, but for the very interconnected betting industry as well. We all clearly understand how well the betting industry can define every good player and the good game. The more bets there are placed on a certain game or player, the better and the more hopeful it is. In this case, it should be mentioned that Lauri turned out to be one of the most favorite picks of the Scandinavian punters. According to some Finnish and Norwegian online bookmakers, soon after Lauri’s debut, he became the top option for placing bets. He also became very popular in the online betting industry and the ration of the bets only increased time by time. Soon, the same situation and the tendency were noticed in many other countries by many international and foreign punters as well as NBA fans. 

One more thing to notice is that the Bulls did not have any Finish players on the pick to the NBA. The choice was not easy, as everyone knew that Lauri was good enough and was a good player as well as particularly was a great shooter, yet everyone had some more questions and concerns about his performance overall. The main questions though were, whether or not he was capable of withholding the guard and being in the center. Some others included if he had any variety in the attack techniques and of course how well he is prepared to enter the biggest game of his life. 

While the questions definitely were none of the easy ones, it should be outlined that it took only 45 games for Lauri to answer them all and to be clear in his manners and attitude in the seriousness of his gameplay and the readiness for the NBA match. Soon, everyone noticed this around him, and perhaps this is why it was decided to make him the seventh pick in the draft for NBA and the player for the Chicago Bulls. 

What is the future? 

So far, Lauri is the core of the Bull’s future. It is not only because someone picked him for the game, but because the statistics and the games show it very clearly. It is very much visible that Lauri is a great player, with some ever-improving statistics and ever-improving techniques of the gameplay. This is something that is very uncommon and very appreciative of the player of his height. 

Some of the most remarkable shots and practices he uses is dribbling and the jump shot, which is also a great thing for the very tall player. He is capable of going under the ring and throwing off with a  stepback. This can be madness for the seven feet tall player. He can easily become one of the greatest “big” shooters of NBA history. But, let’s not rush to conclusions and wait for the results and upcoming events. 

Markkanen is capable of consistently shooting over 40% from a distance. He releases the ball very quickly and needs a little space to shoot. This is not something a lot of players can boast with. Another skill of Lauri Markkanen is the ability to defend against an opponent with the ball at the corner of the court. It is a very common mistake of the tall guys, yet not for Markkanen. He moves very well and never loses to shoot into his opponent’s ring. 

One of the best things which are very notable and many people say about the young Finish basketball star is that he makes great progress very rapidly. It is not that he takes ages to improve his skills and gameplay, but it literally takes a game to game period. This is something incredibly good especially at the age of 23 when everything is yet to come and there is plenty of room for development. 

One way or another, we should not be surprised to ever see Markkanen in the All-Star Game and perhaps he can become the first Finish player to write a chapter in the history of the global basketball industry.