What do Lauri Markkanen and Josh Giddey have in common? Besides the fact that they are both foreign-born players who look like shoo-ins for the All-Star team this season? Well, they are late-bloomers. The Utah Jazz elevated Markkanen into one of the league's best scorers while Giddey looks like a jack-of-all-trades wing. To think that if the Bulls had developed Markkanen like they did Giddey, the Jazz would be in a much different direction.
Chicago had four years to turn Markkanen into something. He always flashed the potential to be the player he is now, but he never quite put it together. Fred Hoiberg, Jim Boylen, or Billy Donovan could unlock the Finnisher, which set the course for him to find himself as a Jazzman two years after his days as a Bull were done.
Look, no one's firing a shot at the Bulls for failing to turn Markkanen into a star. Giddey, looking like he's primed for his first All-Star Game appearance, demonstrates that only certain coaching staffs can bring out the best in certain players.
Because that's how the dominoes fell, the Jazz are seeing Markkanen score at a historic rate. He's no longer playing at an All-Star level. What Utah is seeing from him is All-NBA level play. It never would have happened had the Bulls figured him out when he played there. Even better, the Jazz have a star who has made it very clear he wants to stay with the team.
It all depends on both the right coaching staff and situation
Before Markkanen came to Utah, he played a solid role for the Cleveland Cavaliers, though they never depended on him the way the Jazz do now. Once he was given the keys as basically the Jazz's best players, he took it and ran with it because the team had no better options.
Giddey has a similar story, but not the exact same one as Markkanen. He didn't light the world on fire when he first became a Bull, but once they traded Zach LaVine, they signaled to Giddey that it was his team now, which led to him having a late-season breakout that got him a substantial payday.
Sometimes players just need the right people and the right situation to bring the best out of them. Markkanen and Giddey are among the NBA's most notable late-bloomers, but they weren't the first. It's very possible that the Jazz will see more development stories like Markkanen in the coming years.
They already have with Keyonte George, and there might be more to come. When they do, they may finally begin to reap the rewards from what they've done with Markkanen.