If there was any doubt that Lauri Markkanen wouldn't return to form this season, just look at how he has done in the Utah Jazz's first four games of the season. 34 points a game is impressive enough, but doing it on the vaunted 50/40/90 club? Markkanen has been quite efficient. He's been such a marvel offensively that he makes reads that even his teammates can't keep up with.
Zach Lowe dwelled on this while talking with Mo Dakhil on "The Zach Lowe Show," harping on Markkanen's genius on the offensive end.
"Lauri Markkanen, one of the most fun players for basketball nerds to watch because the amount of variety in his offball game is so astonishing that sometimes he fools his own teammates," Lowe said. "They pass it places where they think he's going to be, and he has made what is probably the correct read, but one they didn't expect.
"If someone shoots the gap, he'll abort his cut, flare out for an open three. You switch on him on a middle pick and roll, he'll pin you to his top side, roll to the rim. He suddenly becomes a rim runner. He's coming off pindowns in one corner, setting a screen and then taking. He is bewildering to try to track. He's shooting the hell out of it."
While his scoring numbers and efficiencies will drop off a tad as the season progresses (playing two overtime games definitely gave them a boost), they really aren't too far off from what he can do when he's playing at an All-Star level.
Markkanen really is a one of a kind player because of how he can take advantage of his height and skillset when defended. It's why the Jazz didn't hesitate to pay him all he wanted, and why they remained confident in him despite everything that went down last season.
That's the kind of player that's hard for a team to part ways with.
Markkanen's play may force Utah to keep him
Many have wondered if it's in Utah's best interest to keep him around as they have gotten younger. However, Markkanen is playing the best ball of his career to start this season, highlighted by putting up his career-high scoring output against the Suns. If he keeps this up
The Jazz probably won't make the playoffs this season, but they have shown four games into the season that they won't roll over like they did last season. A lot of that is because Markkanen looks like himself again, and that's the kind of player a team doesn't part ways with unless the player tells the team that he wants out.
The more the season goes on, the more the Jazz will get a better picture of the current team and its prospects. If the team takes a major step this season, then there would be no need to mess with a successful formula, but if it's clear that the team will need time to develop, then Markkanen rumors will sprout.
For the time being, the Jazz don't have to think about it if they don't want to. Better than that though, they no longer have to worry about if they overpaid the Finnish star.