When Lauri Markkanen has a good scoring game, the Bulls win. When he doesn’t they lose. There’s no conditionals here. No caveats. This is just a straight up fact. I’m defining “good scoring game” as being 22 points or more, a number chosen because it is one field goal above 20. Markkanen has scored that many points four times this season, result in four Bulls victories. Every other game he has appeared in, the Bulls have lost.
Rarely is a single player such a barometer of team success, but the implication is clear: the Bulls need to make sure Markkanen is as comfortable offensively as possible. Or, if they want to tank, which they really should, they should try to mold Markkanen into something that he isn’t. Like a point guard. Or a Shaq. Or both at the same time. Point Shaq except white and Finnish.
When Markkanen looks good, he looks damn good. Like one of the most talented young scorers in the league. I don’t know what he looks like when he’s not looking good, because by rule highlights don’t get made of those performances, but I bet it’s still okay. No matter what he’s actually doing on the court, he always kinda looks like Dirk Nowitzki, and that’s always a good thing.