Not many players in the EuroBasket 2025 have been as impressive as Lauri Markkanen. The Utah Jazz star has dominated in the tournament, showing signs of his All-Star self from the 2022-23 NBA season, something that he’s been lacking in the last two NBA seasons. However, a few NBA insiders have immense faith in the 28-year-old forward.
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Over the last couple of years, it would appear fans have forgotten just how great a player Lauri Markkanen can be. The 7-foot forward has the prototypical play style to thrive in today’s NBA. He can shoot the ball at a near 40% clip from three-point range and doesn’t require the ball to be successful.
The best showing of his skills came in the 2022-23 NBA season, where he shocked the league. After a string of mediocre performances, he exploded to average 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds on 49% shooting from the field and 39% from three-point range. Markannen quickly became one of the most coveted players in the NBA.
But he has gradually dwindled in production in the following two seasons. It may have seemed that his performance was a fluke, but his play with Finland in the EuroBasket 2025 shows that Markkanen is still capable of elite play.
Markkanen is currently averaging 26 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for Finland. His outstanding play has led his nation to one of the final eight teams remaining in the competition, which included a shocking upset over Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
The Utah Jazz star’s recent body of work has given Tim Bontemps confidence in him ahead of the upcoming season.
“The story to me is Lauri Markkanen is looking like the guy he was going into that first year with Will Hardy in Utah,” Bontemps said on The Hoop Collective. “If Lauri Markannen is an All-Star again, that puts a lot of things on the table in Utah.”
Although the Jazz have been in the draft lottery for multiple years, they don’t have a franchise-altering prospect. The 2025-26 season will show whether Ace Bailey has the potential to fit that mould.
If Markkanen is able to play similar to his All-Star season, that opens the door to many different possibilities. “Potentially getting a haul for him in a trade. Or just have him be a centrepiece of what they’re doing going forward alongside Ace Bailey, Walker Kessler and Walter Clayton Jr,” Bontemps said.
Brian Windhorst doesn’t necessarily disagree with Bontemps. However, he illustrates one big question surrounding Markkanen, which comes in the form of the Finnish’ star’s offensive game. “I will say Markkanen is only shooting 29% on threes,” Windhorst said.
That number isn’t good enough to earn an All-Star appearance in the NBA. In Markkanen’s defense, he has never shot that poorly in the NBA. His lowest three-point percentage was 34.4%, which was in his third year in the league.
Markkanen is turning everyone into a believer, including NBA experts. Only time will tell whether or not he can continue this level of success for the upcoming season.
