When Lauri Markkanen walked into Vivint Smart Home Arena on Wednesday, it would be tempting to say he was struck by nostalgia.
It was the place where Markkanen and his Arizona teammates punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 this spring, where the Finnish one-and-done player helped carve out a March Madness run and sent his stock rising.
But it’s not what he felt. The first thing he noticed: “It’s different. It’s changed.”
The home arena of the Utah Jazz has been renovated since Markkanen last visited, and in many ways so has he. It’s been a whirlwind rookie season for the 7-foot 20-year-old forward, and he’s the leading scorer (15.4 ppg) on a Chicago team that has mostly struggled.
Before picking him seventh overall, coach Fred Hoiberg knew Markkanen could be a player who scored everywhere on the floor — who could finish around the rim, or could spot up from deep for a 3-pointer. But there were some other things the Bulls didn’t expect: how well he could move on defense for his size; how he could close out on shooters, or rebound with good fundamentals.
“I really do think the sky’s the limit for Lauri,” Hoiberg said.
Markkannen is living up to his reputation as a shooter, averaging 35.5 percent from long range. Hoiberg said he has work to do to add to his frame and improve his speed, but he has an added toughness the Bulls attribute to his year with Arizona.
The Bulls are rebuilding, and Markkanen has been a silver lining. And sometimes, he has time to reminisce about his SLC weekend last March.
“It was a cool, cool weekend for us,” he said. “But everything happened so quickly. I haven’t had time to think about what happened the whole year.”
More points off turnovers needed
On one hand, Jazz coach Quin Snyder looks at the last game against Philadelphia and is pleased that his team forced 20 turnovers. But then he sees the points off those turnovers — 11 — and is less pleased.
The Jazz entered Wednesday’s game No. 1 in steals (9.8 spg) and No. 2 in opponent turnover percentage (16.2 percent). But it isn’t always translating to points, as Snyder envisioned. He said the Jazz are trying to simulate more fastbreak situations in practice, but it doesn’t always replicate the situations in games.
“The good thing is we’re forcing the turnovers, but the next step of that is finishing,” he said. “We can show our guys, but those are situations where they need to be as good as they can be.”
Briefly
While Rudy Gobert (tibia), Joe Johnson (wrist) and Dante Exum (shoulder) remain long-term injury concerns, no other Jazzmen were listed on the injury report for the first time in three games. … The Salt Lake City Stars have acquired 7-foot center Asauhn Dixon-Tatum, and waived forward Brannen Greene.
