Lauri Markkanen of the Chicago Bulls, who is heading into his third season in the league next season, had an impressive sophomore campaign despite being hampered by injuries for nearly half of the season.
This year, after only spending 23 percent of his minutes at the center spot in 2018-19, per Basketball Reference, the Bulls are reportedly committed to shifting Markkanen down to the five more often, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic.
“The Bulls want to boost Markkanen’s minutes at center this season,” Mayberry said in his story. There’s a fair question regarding how prepared Markkanen is to defend bigger, stronger centers. But a better question might be how prepared are they to defend him? Markkanen could thrive offensively by moving down a position and becoming a matchup nightmare for bigger, slower centers who’d be forced to try to keep up on the perimeter.”
Indeed, that does seem to be the trade-off with The Finnisher (a terrific nickname by the way), as his offensive talents cannot be denied. He logged 18.7 points per game last season, and continued establishing himself as one of basketball's preeminent shooters among big men.
Though Markkanen’s career defensive numbers are less than spectacular, he has shown flashes during the start of his career, and his defensive chops – in addition to his three-pointer falling – will most determine whether he can hang at center in 2019-20.
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