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Just how good will The finisher be when it’s all said and done?

Thee Idiotic Minivan K

Thee Idiotic Minivan K

Well-Known Member
There’s a case to be made he’s still evolving and has more room to get better.

This is his first year as a #1 option. I’m reminded of Hayward’s first year as a #1 in this offense. I’m not comparing the two, Hayward struggled to make shots, Markkanen struggles at times to get shots up and disappears from time to time. I’m not criticizing him, no one is perfect in a new role, so as good a shooter he is and how efficient a scorer he is, how good is he going to be when he learns to be more aggressive within the offense. To me he defers too much. He’s a mismatch 99% of the time, and I’m looking for him to attack and he kinda just gives it up too much I think.

Thoughts?
 
I think he has the potential to be a top 5 player in the league. POTENTIAL folks. Not for sure.

There are fewer players that you can count on one hand that have had his toolset (7'+ that can score at all 3 levels). Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Kristaps Porzingis.... and after that I am drawing blanks. Mikal Bridges...??? Kevin Garnoooope... Mehmet Ok.... nope.

Kristaps has been a dissapointment. Kevin Durant, unstoppable. Lauri falls somewhere in between. But given the breakout season, the clearly the #1 status on the team, and the All Star Starter appearance, plus his age... I think the sky is the limit.

I would say that I 100% concur on the shortfalls of his game listed above. Dissapearing at times. Not exerting himself when we need. Also, I would add that he needs to add more balls skills to become ELITE. But it's all there folks. He can be the best or second best player on a contender.
 
It will be interesting to see how the rest of the year goes where Lauri has to create more of his own offense.

I'm not sure I ever see him as a great distributor, but if he ever does, he could be an MVP level player.
 
I was promised there would be a statue...

This is Lauri's first season as a star, as THE star of the team. Last year he was maybe 3 or 4, with the Bulls 2 or 3. Whatever the ceiling is, we haven't seen it yet.

This team was thrown together, only Conley & JC had played together any meaningful minutes. And then it was ripped apart again. It's a small wonder that anyone has managed to stand out this season, let alone develop as Lauri has.

I doubt he'll ever be a player you can just chuck the ball to, behind the arc or in the post, and just expect him to get buckets. But all the cuts, curls, pindowns, backdoors, pops are creation as well, not just dribbling in isolation. He doesn't need a perfect pass, he just needs a pass. And that's something that takes time with teammates. Jokic doesn't have some magical touch, he's a superb passer and all of his teammates know where to go to get those passes. Even if Sexton's PG play doesn't improve, at all, he'll be a much better passer to Lauri next year - just from the minutes together. Knowing that when Lauri drops his shoulder in some situation, he's going inside - or whatever.

I'm sure he can double his assists. He can get more boards as they get chemistry with Kessler, and have guards that at least occasionally box someone out. He's already a + defender just as long as you don't ask too much from him - which is quite a bit more than many superstars.

And then we come to scoring. I've no idea if he can get 28, or 30, or 32. But I wouldn't put it past him. Add a few things (not even all the things, just a few) and he'll be devastating. Maybe a baseline midrange J. Maybe a consistent step-back 3. And improve his handle. That's a real weakness right now and preventing him from doing some things.
 
More than 1 all star appearance, over the next 10 years, probably at least 3 more and several years he played well enough but got snubbed.
I think he has found his groove for sure. Now if we draft well and make other trades that lessen his usage different story, but if we are winning who cares.
 
Lauri is dope. The only real question I ask about evaluating him as a #1 option is can he create his own shot/go iso and get a bucket when he really needs to.

His game has definitely improved in that regard, and I think it will continue to do so.
 
Korisfani said:
I was promised there would be a statue...

This is Lauri's first season as a star, as THE star of the team. Last year he was maybe 3 or 4, with the Bulls 2 or 3. Whatever the ceiling is, we haven't seen it yet.

This team was thrown together, only Conley & JC had played together any meaningful minutes. And then it was ripped apart again. It's a small wonder that anyone has managed to stand out this season, let alone develop as Lauri has.

I doubt he'll ever be a player you can just chuck the ball to, behind the arc or in the post, and just expect him to get buckets. But all the cuts, curls, pindowns, backdoors, pops are creation as well, not just dribbling in isolation. He doesn't need a perfect pass, he just needs a pass. And that's something that takes time with teammates. Jokic doesn't have some magical touch, he's a superb passer and all of his teammates know where to go to get those passes. Even if Sexton's PG play doesn't improve, at all, he'll be a much better passer to Lauri next year - just from the minutes together. Knowing that when Lauri drops his shoulder in some situation, he's going inside - or whatever.

I'm sure he can double his assists. He can get more boards as they get chemistry with Kessler, and have guards that at least occasionally box someone out. He's already a + defender just as long as you don't ask too much from him - which is quite a bit more than many superstars.

And then we come to scoring. I've no idea if he can get 28, or 30, or 32. But I wouldn't put it past him. Add a few things (not even all the things, just a few) and he'll be devastating. Maybe a baseline midrange J. Maybe a consistent step-back 3. And improve his handle. That's a real weakness right now and preventing him from doing some things.
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Lmao 1. He will never be as good as the statues… period!! 2. It doesn’t take a full year to learn how to play with teammates unless your some kind of idiot
 
PresidioTrojan said:
Lauri is dope. The only real question I ask about evaluating him as a #1 option is can he create his own shot/go iso and get a bucket when he really needs to.
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Are Curry, Jokic and AD for example then not #1s? There down there with Lauri in iso frequency. And Dinwiddie and DeRozan are?

The last two years not a single Finals game has been decided by last minute isos. Actually last minute anything, because most games are decided way before that. And even if they are, it's more often about making your free throws than iso play.

Y'all been watching too much Kobe tape.
 
It's tough to say but there's little he can't do and in that sense he's still somewhat raw. He can hit the 3 from all spots, he's got a foul line jumper, he can step back, he can get to the basket, post up, take advantages of mismatches, he's got good handles, can finish and even play defense when he wants. His ceiling is very high but he's also just figuring it all out so as I said it's really tough to say what his ceiling is.
 
Korisfani said:
Are Curry, Jokic and AD for example then not #1s? There down there with Lauri in iso frequency. And Dinwiddie and DeRozan are?

The last two years not a single Finals game has been decided by last minute isos. Actually last minute anything, because most games are decided way before that. And even if they are, it's more often about making your free throws than iso play.

Y'all been watching too much Kobe tape.
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I probably wasn't clear enough in my original post. My intent was to agree with what you just said.

Jokic, Embiid, etc. are all obviously #1's and I think Lauri can be too. Going to a guy for a bucket in a clutch situation doesn't have to mean a clear-out iso from 30 feet. We can get him the ball in a lot of ways and he can get us a bucket, just like a lot of those guys do. He is absolutely someone you should run your offense through.

I'm at the point now where I'm accepting who he is today, and not looking at the first five years where he was wasted by ****** teams. He's 25 years old, an athletic freak, 7 feet tall, averaging 25 ppg with very modest usage rate, and he's shooting 51/42/88. This guy is freaking awesome.
 
someone needs to tell him he can afford some decent clothes to wear when he's not playing and sitting on the bench
 
The Jazz Wonderbra said:
I think he has the potential to be a top 5 player in the league. POTENTIAL folks. Not for sure.

There are fewer players that you can count on one hand that have had his toolset (7'+ that can score at all 3 levels). Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Kristaps Porzingis.... and after that I am drawing blanks. Mikal Bridges...??? Kevin Garnoooope... Mehmet Ok.... nope.

Kristaps has been a dissapointment. Kevin Durant, unstoppable. Lauri falls somewhere in between. But given the breakout season, the clearly the #1 status on the team, and the All Star Starter appearance, plus his age... I think the sky is the limit.

I would say that I 100% concur on the shortfalls of his game listed above. Dissapearing at times. Not exerting himself when we need. Also, I would add that he needs to add more balls skills to become ELITE. But it's all there folks. He can be the best or second best player on a contender.
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Anthony Davis is another. And if he weren't made of glass he would dominate the league. Lauri can be right there due to his size, 3 level scoring, efficiency, etc.

In spite of everything, Lauri will cap out as the second best scorer on a championship contender unless he hunts the shot more AND improves his handles. Otherwise, he would be a fantastic modern Pippen to a modern alpha a la Jordan.
 
I think Lauris upside varies based on who he has to work with. He can be #1 or #2.

Best case (for Lauri) is we pair him with a good unselfish playmaker as a primary ballhandler and he builds good chemisty with that guy and Kessler.. I would say highly efficient 30/10/5 is possible. He almost did that without the assists in January. He would create some on his own so not 100% dependant, but still pretty high assisted FG rate.

Worst case (for Lauris numbers) is we bring an elite scorer and make Lauri create more for himself, in which case his ceiling might be around 25/10 with 28-30% usage. Here he would be #2.

For us as a team, both options have appeal. Maybe the playmaker route is better since Kessler has some offensive upside and would need that guy to maximize his impact as well.
 
Thee Idiotic Minivan K said:
Lmao 1. He will never be as good as the statues… period!! 2. It doesn’t take a full year to learn how to play with teammates unless your some kind of idiot
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He's already better than them as a person, but that's pretty easy. They kinda suck as humans. One is a child molester and terrible dad the other is a dick to everyone and a crazy anti vax conspiracy guy. Neither deserves a statue.

Also it's will noted you're a Lauri hater.
 
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Ron Mexico said:
Also it's will noted you're a Lauri hater.
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Lol, I’m the one that started this thread, I’m intimating that he could end up being really good and still getting better. I’m not sure how you came to this.

Stockton isn’t by any account mean or whatever you say. He’s not outgoing or the life of the party, he’s all business, and what’s wrong with having your own thoughts and feelings? Just because you don’t agree with one of Stockton’s beliefs doesn’t make him a bad person. I don’t agree with his stance on vaccinations either, doesn’t mean he’s a bad person.

As far as Malone goes I can’t argue, still we should love the person hate what he did. And those statues have nothing to do with what they did in life, but what they did on the court Markkanen has a long way to go before he reaches that status. And I doubt he ever will. I hope I’m wrong. Stockton and Malone are two of the greatest at their positions, and in my opinion, top 25 players of all time.
 
I think his ceiling is Dirk Nowitzki, but that feels a little optimistic to think he gets to that level for that long.
 
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