When it comes to tonight's matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and the Chicago Bulls, many eyes will be on Bulls rookie rising star forward Lauri Markkanen. According to a tweet on Friday afternoon from Mavs beat writer Earl K. Sneed, Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle opened up about the comparisons of Markannen to longtime Dallas power forward and future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki from Germany.
“You know, 7-foot guys from foreign countries that can make shots from everywhere are going to get compared to Dirk Nowitzki. That's going to be a fact of life,” coach Carlisle said of Markannen, who was born in Finland.
Carlisle continued to give Markkanen a lot of praise, saying he was quite impressed with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Per an article by Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News:
“Yeah, Markkanen had as good a pre-draft workout, I should say individual workout, as I've ever seen,” coach Carlisle said of the Mavericks' pre-draft interest in the University of Arizona product. “He shot the ball phenomenally well. I've never seen a guy be as efficient with shotmaking from both midrange and long range in a workout.”
In the Bulls’ last five games, the 7-foot Markkanen is averaging 19.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest while shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from behind the arc.
Tonight's contest between the Mavs and Bulls, which will tip off at American Airlines Center shortly after 7:30 p.m. CT, will be broadcast live locally on Fox Sports Southwest and NBC Sports Chicago.
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