Lauri Markkanen

Lauri Markkanen
Markkanen with Finland in 2017
No. 24 – Chicago Bulls
Position Power forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1997-05-22) May 22, 1997
Vantaa, Finland
Nationality Finnish
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
College Arizona (2016–2017)
NBA draft 2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Playing career 2014–present
Career history
2014–2016 HBA-Märsky
2017–present Chicago Bulls
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Lauri Elias Markkanen (born May 22, 1997) is a Finnish professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the 2017 NBA draft, he was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 7th overall pick before being included in a trade to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler. He is the son of Finnish basketball players Pekka and Riikka Markkanen, and a brother of football player Eero Markkanen who plays in Danish Superliga side Randers FC.[1]

Early life and career

Markkanen grew up in Jyväskylä, and played his junior years in local team HoNsU.[2] Markkanen played for HBA-Märsky in the Finnish second tier league from 2014 to 2016.

College career

On October 17, 2015, Markkanen verbally committed to NCAA Division I squad Arizona Wildcats prior to the 2016–17 season.[3][4][5] Lauri signed a letter to intent to Arizona on Nov. 11th. ESPN.com reported that the seven-foot Finn is considered "a possible one-and-done candidate for the NBA draft."[6] He became the first player since Mike Bibby to wear the jersey number 10. In January 2017, SB Nation regarded him as "the best shooting 7-footer college basketball has ever seen".[7] Within the same month Markkanen was selected as Pac-12 Player of the Week as well as the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week.[8][9] He has also been named to the pre-season Karl Malone Award Watchlist,[10] Naismith Award Watchlist,[11] Wooden Award Watchlist,[12] Wooden Award Midseason Top 25,[13] Wayman Tisdale Award Midseason watch list, Oscar Robertson Award Midseason watch list,[14] Karl Malone Award Finalist,[15] Naismith Top 30 Finalist.[16] Markkanen was among the 15 finalist for the John R. Wooden Award.[17]

He recorded a career-high 30 points on Jan. 12th against rival Arizona State. Also recording a career-high 13 rebounds 3 times against Northern Colorado(11/21/16), Washington State(1/26/17) & Washington (2/18/17). His career-high 3 blocks came against ASU in the regular season finale Mar. 4th, 2017.

Markkanen was selected to the third team All-American team in AP, NBC Sports, USA Today and Sporting News on March 6, 2017.[18] He was a first team all Pac-12 selection, as well as first team all Pac-12 Freshman team and first team all Pac-12 team in Associated Press.

At the conclusion of his freshman season, Markkanen announced his intention to forgo his final three years of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2017 NBA draft.[19]

Professional career

Chicago Bulls (2017–present)

Rookie season (2017–18)

Markkanen was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the seventh pick of the first round of the 2017 NBA draft. On draft night, his rights were traded to the Chicago Bulls along with Zach Lavine and Kris Dunn for Jimmy Butler and the rights to Justin Patton.[20] On July 5, 2017, Markkanen signed with the Bulls.[21]

On October 19, 2017, Markkanen made his NBA debut with the Bulls and scored seventeen points.[22] Markkanen then set an NBA record on October 24, for most 3-pointers in the first three games of an NBA career with ten 3-pointers.[23] Markkanen also asked former NBA player Brian Scalabrine to use his number 24, which Brian allowed.[24] On November 19, he recorded a 26-13 double-double against the Phoenix Suns.[25] On December 8, Markkanen scored 24 points against the Charlotte Hornets and two weeks later on December 21, he dropped 25 points on the Cleveland Cavaliers.[26][27] On December 30, Markkanen scored a career-high 32 points and seven rebounds in a 119-107 win against the Indiana Pacers.[28] On January 10, 2018, Markkanen played a career high 46 minutes, scored a career-high 33 points along with a career-high eight 3-pointers in a double overtime 122-119 win against the New York Knicks. This made him the second seven-foot player to make eight three-pointers in a game (the first being Dirk Nowitzki).[29] On January 22, he grabbed a career-high seventeen rebounds against the New Orleans Pelicans.[30] Four days later, Markkanen blocked a career-high three shots against the Los Angeles Lakers.[31] On February 12, he scored 21 points against the Orlando Magic and 22 points against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 7.[32][33]

After scoring seventeen points against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 28, 2018, Markkanen now has 721 points, surpassing Hanno Möttölä (715) as the career leading scorer among NBA players from Finland.[34] On May 22, 2018, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.[35]

National team career

Markkanen made his international debut with the Finnish U-18 national team at the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.[36] Markkanen averaged 18.2 points per game to lead the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in the summer of 2015.[6] He was the top scorer in 2016 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship tournament with average of 24.9 points per game and was named to the All-Tournament Team.[37]

Markkanen played with the Finland senior team at EuroBasket 2017, which was held in his home country. He led his team to the round of 16 by averaging 19.5 points and 5.7 rebounds over 6 games.[38]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Chicago 686829.7.434.362.8437.51.2.6.615.2
Career 686829.7.434.362.8437.51.2.6.615.2

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 Arizona 373730.8.492.423.8357.2.9.4.515.6

NBA records

  • Fastest player to reach 100 career 3-pointers (41 games)[39]

Personal life

He is the son of Pekka,[6] and Riikka Markkanen (née Ellonen), who both were professional basketball players,[40] and has two brothers, Miikka and a professional footballer, Eero, who plays for AIK (currently on loan to Randers FC). In January 2018, Markkanen and his girlfriend Verna Aho had a son together.[41]

References

  1. ↑ "Household rivalry: Lauri Markkanen poised to emerge as best in family". The Daily Wildcat. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  2. ↑ "Koripallon poikkeuslahjakkuus Lauri Markkanen harjoitteli heittoja jopa ilman pakkasrajaa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 6 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "UA basketball: Finnish big man Markkanen commits". Arizona Daily Star. October 17, 2015.
  4. ↑ Jeremy Woo (October 17, 2015). "Finnish forward Lauri Markkanen commits to Arizona". Sports Illustrated.
  5. ↑ Sam Vecenie (October 17, 2015). "Finland's five-star forward Lauri Markkanen commits to Arizona". CBS Sports.
  6. 1 2 3 Jeff Borzello. "Finnish big man Lauri Markkanen commits to Arizona". ESPN.com.
  7. ↑ O'Donnell, Ricky (20 January 2017). "Lauri Markkanen is the best shooting 7-footer college basketball has ever seen". SBNation.com.
  8. ↑ Star, Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily (23 January 2017). "Arizona basketball: Markkanen named Pac-12 Player of the Week". Arizona Daily Star.
  9. ↑ "Arizona basketball: Lauri Markkanen named Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week". AZDesertSwarm.com. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Arizona basketball: Lauri Markkanen named to the Karl Malone Award watch list". AZDesertSwarm.com. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Arizona basketball: Arizona Wildcats Basketball Lauri Markkanen on preseason Naismith Award watch list". AZDesertSwarm.com. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "UA-Cal State Bakersfield pregame: Markkanen named to Wooden Award Watchlist". Tucson.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "John R. Wooden Award Reveals 2016-17 Midseason Top 25". John R Wooden Award. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  14. ↑ "Oscar Robertson Award".
  15. ↑ "Karl Malone Award".
  16. ↑ "College basketball: Naismith Trophy Top 30 list announced". NCAA.com. 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  17. ↑ "JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD".
  18. ↑ "2017 All Americans".
  19. ↑ Bruce Pascoe (2017-03-30). "Arizona Wildcats freshman Lauri Markkanen confirms he'll leave for NBA". tucson.com. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
  20. ↑ "Bulls acquire Dunn, LaVine and Markkanen from Minnesota". NBA.com. June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Bulls sign Lauri Markkanen". NBA.com. July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Bulls' Lauri Markkanen: Shines in debut Thursday". cbssports.com. October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  23. ↑ Johnson, K.C. (October 24, 2017). "Lauri Markkanen sets NBA record as Bulls fall to Cavaliers 119-112". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  24. ↑ Gartland, Dan (October 25, 2017). "Lauri Markkanen Asked Brian Scalabrine For Permission to Wear His Old Number". Sports Illustrated.com.
  25. ↑ Johnson, K.C. (November 19, 2017). "Lauri Markkanen 'phenomenal,' but Bulls lose to Suns 113-105". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  26. ↑ Ostrowski, Matt (2017-12-08). "Chicago Bulls Lauri Markkanen is the player of the game". Pippen Ain't Easy. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  27. ↑ Cowley, Joe (December 22, 2017). "Lauri Markkanen's new way of life? Attack, attack, attack, attack ..." Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  28. ↑ McGraw, Mike (December 30, 2017). "As LaVine approaches return, will Bulls even try to keep things rolling?". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  29. ↑ Barnewall, Chris (January 11, 2018). "Lauri Markkanen's eight 3-pointers are the most by a 7-footer since Dirk Nowitzki". cbssports.com. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  30. ↑ McGraw, Mike (January 22, 2018). "Bulls collapse in fourth quarter, lose in 2OT as Cousins has epic stat line". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  31. ↑ Martin, Josh (2018-01-27). "Brandon Ingram leads Lakers to 1st road win without Lonzo Ball, 108-103 vs. Bulls". Lonzo Wire. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  32. ↑ McGraw, Mike (February 13, 2018). "Win or lose, Bulls can succeed by getting Markkanen more shots". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  33. ↑ Seligman, Andrew (March 8, 2018). "Bulls hang on down stretch, beat Grizzlies 119-110". AP News. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  34. ↑ Seligman, Andrew (January 28, 2018). "Antetokounmpo scores 27, Bucks beat Bulls 110-96". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  35. ↑ "Donovan Mitchell, Ben Simmons lead 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie first team". NBA.com. May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  36. ↑ Bedore, Gary (September 17, 2016). "Former KU forward Pekka Markkanen's son, Lauri, expected to excel at Arizona". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  37. ↑ "All-Star Five - Lauri Markkanen is the top scorer! - FIBA U20 European Championship 2016 - FIBA U20 European Championship Division A 2016 - FIBA.com". FIBA.com. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  38. ↑ "Lauri Markkanen Profile". EuroBasket 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  39. ↑ "LaVine gets 18, Bulls end Miami's 7-game win streak, 119-111". ESPN.com. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018. Markkanen made his 100th career 3-pointer in his 41st game, the record for fastest to get to 100 in NBA history.
  40. ↑ McCullough, Drew (June 21, 2017). "11 things you don't know about Arizona Wildcats star Lauri Markkanen, a projected NBA lottery pick". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  41. ↑ "Seiska: Lauri Markkaselle poikavauva". is.fi (in Finnish). 1 February 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
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