Lauri Markkanen's historic numbers could be a red flag for the Jazz

Lauri Markkanen's play has been a revelation despite the fact that he was already a revelation for them only three years ago. Playing at a historic level, Markkanen is joining the likes of some of the Jazz's very best ever. In this case, it's Adrian Dantley, and while being put in the same group as a Hall of Famer is amazing, it's not exactly the ringing endorsement that one would think.

For context, it was confirmed the other night that Markkanen is averaging 30 points a night 13 games into the season. He's the first Jazzman to do that since Dantley, who did it three times when he played for the Jazz.

Dantley is a Jazz legend. He certainly earned his spot as one of the greats to ever play for the franchise. However, he's also well known for being the guy who the Jazz traded which ultimately unlocked the Karl Malone-John Stockton era for over a decade.

Getting rid of Dantley allowed the Jazz to move toward Malone as their primary scorer, and the rest was history for Utah. While Dantley put up some impressive numbers, he was also known for being a bit of a black hole, and his teams never quite won. No one is saying Markkanen is cut from the same cloth, but unfortunately, what he has done has yet to translate into anything for Utah yet.

Markkanen is different from Dantley, but the results are similar

There is a stark contrast between how Markkanen plays and how Dantley played. What makes Markkanen not only so good but also much fun is that he doesn't need the ball to create scoring opportunities. He is the perfect off-ball threat, as he's tall enough to go for the lob, shoot a three, and exploit mismatches inside.

He's also mobile enough that he can cut to the basket like a wing. He can score in iso, but the Jazz have masterfully been able to consistently find him in the right spots. Dantley was a bit different.

While he could score at will, he never played within a flowing offense. In fact, he was the offense. When the ball was in his hands, good luck wishing the ball was coming out of his hands. Let the record show that this isn't a shot at Dantley. He really is a generational scorer, but his teams typically didn't succeed when he was the focal point and got better when they traded him (this wasn't just the case for Utah).

So, no, they're not the same player, but the more Markkanen plays like this, and with the Jazz not really finding much success from it, many will question if he is an empty-calorie scorer. By this time next year, this could look extremely foolish, but after proving he's in the same league as Adrian Dantley, Lauri Markkanen's next objective should be to prove he's a more impactful Jazzman than Dantley.