There was a point in Lauri Markkanen’s young career when people thought he was the second coming of Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki because of his combination of elite size and ability to shoot the ball from distance. Unfortunately, Markkanen has not been able to justify those expectations.

With Chicago making win-now moves to add more quality veterans to the frontcourt, Markannen is left in an awkward spot in the Bulls’ rotation. We examine the forward’s on-court performance and how it has affected the value of his cards.

The curious case of Lauri Markkanen on the Bulls

Before the season started, a lot of fans were excited to finally see Lauri Markkanen take a leap in his game. The hype surrounding the Bulls felt all too real, especially with a core of Zach LaVine, Coby White, Wendell Carter Jr., and Markkanen playing. Unfortunately, the latter isn’t generating the impact fans expected him make.

lauri markkanen, bulls

While his averages of 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds look decent on paper, his actual contributions on the court conveys otherwise. Markkanen does indeed have the ability to get buckets, as evidenced by his 48.7% mark from the field and 39.0% from downtown. 

However, Markkanen doesn't offer much else besides spot-up shooting. He struggles to score for himself and doesn't make plays for others. Furthermore, his defense has been atrocious all season long.

Markkanen has a minus-1.5 Defensive Box Plus/Minus rating, placing him right in the bottom tier of his team. Patrick Williams, a 19-year-old rookie forward, fares better with minus-0.6 DBPM, while trusty veteran Thaddeus Young has a 1.5 score. These numbers mean Markkanen can’t be trusted to close games since his defense can’t be counted on, and his offensive game isn't versatile enough. 

With Nikola Vucevic now on board and Young playing well all season, Lauri Markkanen has been demoted to a bench role alongside newcomer Daniel Theis. Since the start of April, Markkannen has only played an average of 20.5 minutes. This is a far cry from before the trade deadline (the Bulls did try to trade him) when the forward stayed on the floor constantly for more than 29 minutes per game.

Lauri Markkanen, Bulls

With the arrivals of Vucevic and Theis to go along with the presence of Young and Williams, there are simply fewer opportunities left for Markkanen. Unless he takes his game to another level, or an injury to one of those aforementioned players occurs, Markkanen's role likely won't change much moving forward.

The state of Lauri Markkanen rookie cards

In the middle of January this year, Markkanen’s PSA 10 Prizm rookie card was sold for $140. When February ended, that price went down to $100. A month later, his value went up to $135. Now, Markannen’s PSA 10 Prizm rookie card prices have plummeted down to $67 because of the factors stated above.

Markkanen is obviously on a downtrend, both on the court and the card market. It can potentially go up in the future, especially if he gets traded to a team where he gets to play a lot of minutes. Until then, it’s best to steer clear from any Lauri Markkanen rookie cards that come along your way because they’re all falling down in value with no solid catalyst to drive them back up in the near future.