Two weeks before the end of the regular season, it's a safe bet that we won't see Lauri Markkanen with the Jazz in 2023/24, since the franchise announced that he would be re-evaluated in… two weeks, after having aggravated against Spurs on Wednesday an injury to his right shoulder which had already handicapped him for a good part of the month of March.
As Utah now has nothing more to play for collectively (12th in the West and eliminated from the play-in race), there would be no interest in playing the Finn again before next season. Enough to allow Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh, Luka Samanic or Micah Potter to show themselves in the last eight matches.
All-Star a year ago and reigning Most Improved Player, Lauri Markkanen has remained solid statistically (23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds on average, 48% shooting, 40% 3-point shooting and 90% shooting) this year , but he still lacks support in his team to move forward collectively. Free agent in the summer of 2025, he can now turn to this pivotal 2024/25 financial year for the rest of his career.
Before that, however, we should see the soon-to-be 27-year-old power forward in Valencia this summer, for the TQO (July 2-7), in order to help Finland qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games against the Spain, Angola, Lebanon, the Bahamas and Poland.
| Lauri Markkanen | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2017-18 | CHI | 68 | 30 | 43.4 | 36.2 | 84.3 | 1.2 | 6.3 | 7.5 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 15.2 |
| 2018-19 | CHI | 52 | 32 | 43.0 | 36.1 | 87.2 | 1.4 | 7.6 | 9.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 18.7 |
| 2019-20 | CHI | 50 | 30 | 42.5 | 34.4 | 82.4 | 1.2 | 5.1 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 14.7 |
| 2020-21 | CHI | 51 | 26 | 48.0 | 40.2 | 82.6 | 0.7 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 13.6 |
| 2021-22 | KEY | 61 | 31 | 44.5 | 35.8 | 86.8 | 1.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 14.8 |
| 2022-23 | UTH | 66 | 34 | 49.9 | 39.1 | 87.5 | 2.0 | 6.7 | 8.6 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 25.6 |
| 2023-24 | UTH | 55 | 33 | 48.0 | 39.9 | 89.9 | 2.2 | 6.0 | 8.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 23.2 |
| Total | 403 | 31 | 45.9 | 37.5 | 86.6 | 1.4 | 5.9 | 7.3 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 18.1 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
