The Bulls have played 30 games this season. In five of them, Lauri Markkanen led the team in scoring. Of those five, the Bulls have won two.
One of the latter category games occurred on Dec. 18, a stunning come-from-behind road toppling of the Washington Wizards. Markkanen — though somewhat absent from the culmination of the Bulls’ rally — had his second-best offensive game of the season, behind only the season-opener. He finished the night with 31 points and 9 rebounds on 12-for-19 shooting (5-for-10 from 3-point range), flashing the full array of long-range marksmanship, show-and-go drives and crafty finishing he’s like to display when he’s ‘on’:
The performance stands out for a number of reasons. In it, Markkanen made double-digit field goals in a game for only the second time this season and more than four 3-pointers in a game for the first time this season. It’s his second 30-point outing of the year and the 11th contest in a row (dating back to the last game of November) in which he’s tallied double-digit point totals.
It’s been hard to trust spurts of strong play from Markkanen, but he’s in the midst of one right now. In ten December games, Markkanen is averaging 17.9 points on 51.2/41.1/85 shooting splits, finding more clean looks in the flow of the offense and even finishing more efficiently at the rim. He’s taking 4.5 NBA.com-defined ‘wide open’ 3-pointers per game and shooting 81.6% on 38 restricted area FGA this month.
NBA
For Markkanen, sometimes it’s as simple as shots falling. In a few specific areas, the positive progression Jim Boylen has often urged us to expect is beginning to take shape:
| Pre-December (20 games) | December (10 games) | |
| 'Wide Open' 3P% | 27.9% (61 attempts) | 51.1% (45 attempts) |
| Catch-and-Shoot 3P% | 29% (107 attempts) | 40.8% (71 attempts) |
| Above-the-break 3P% | 27.7% (94 attempts) | 41% (61 attempts) |
| Corner 3P% | 33.3% (15 attempts) | 41.7% (12 attempts) |
Via NBA Stats (*NBA.com defines a ‘wide open’ shot as one without a defender within 4-6 feet of the shooter)
In December, the Bulls offense is 10.9 points per 100 possessions better with Markkanen on the floor, with an offensive rating of 106.2. That figure would rank 24th in the NBA — not ideal — but considering the Bulls’ league-worst 103.2 offensive rating on the season, it’s a development the team will happily accept, embrace and build on. That +10.9 offensive rating on/off differential is by far the highest of any single Bull, this month.
When Markkanen is hitting shots, it opens a world of possibilities for an offense prone to stagnation. His pick-and-pop chemistry with Tomas Satoransky is blooming, and when defenses are forced to close hard on Markkanen, it opens up exploitable driving lanes.
As befits this team, though, there are caveats. Some of Markkanen’s best games in this stretch have been against suspect competition — e.g. the aforementioned 31-point outing against the Wizards’ league-worst defense and depleted frontcourt; or a 24-point, 8-for-9 shooting performance against the Hawks that was bolstered by 10 garbage-time points. Questions of consistency also persist: After hitting a turnaround hook shot early in the fourth quarter of the team’s Dec. 16 matchup against the Thunder, Markkanen attempted only one field goal in the game’s final 10 minutes, as a once-26-point Bulls lead dripped away.
And even with his improved efficiency, Markkanen’s shot profile hasn’t evolved, though much of that can be pinned on the Bulls’ general system. The vast majority of Markkanen’s looks come from catch-and-shoot jumpers (50.2% of his field goal attempts this season have been catch-and-shoot 3-pointers) and closeout-attacking drives.
When he’s in rhythm, he converts those opportunities at a clip that makes him incredibly valuable, but the offense still isn’t being run through him in the way many expected it would before the season. Markkanen is being assisted on 72.6% of his made field goals this season — a figure on par with players such as Cedi Osman and JaVale McGee — and only dishing out 1.7 assists per game. Though his 12.9 field goal attempts per game in December is up from October and November, it’s still down from his 15.3 attempts per contest last season.
The common refrain during Markkanen’s times of strife this season has often centered on the need for shots to fall. Now, they're starting to. His progression warrants celebration, but Markkanen isn't one to rest on his laurels — pushing himself as a shot creator and facilitator will be imperative to fulfilling the franchise-cornerstone-level expectations currently on him.
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