Lauri Markkanen’s wonderful season with the Utah Jazz was rewarded by being selected as the season’s most improved player.
Lauri Markkanen has again received a valuable recognition. The Finnish star of the Utah Jazz, who is currently serving his military service, was selected as the most developed player in the basketball league NBA.
The Oklahoma City Thunder competed with Markkanen for the award Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the New York Knicks Jalen Brunson.
The winner of the award was decided by a hundred basketball journalists, who put the trio in order. First place received five points, second place three and third place one point.
– Lauri was absolutely the number one choice, you don’t even have to look with blue and white glasses. He raised himself from a lineman to an All Stars player and the most important player of the emerging organization, Finland’s first NBA player Hanno Möttölä stated.
Möttölä also considers surprise to be one of the factors behind Markkanen’s choice.
– These others were expected to rise. Markkanes is already five years behind, so such an increase was not expected.
The most developed player can be thought of using different criteria. Someone can rise from an average player to a star. On the other hand, even a star player can develop even better. In Möttölä’s eyes, Markkanen is a good candidate for the award.
– He meets exactly the criteria I have. When you elevate yourself from a linebacker to a star, it reflects that you have clearly developed. I don’t remember reading a single article in the fall predicting Markkase as an All Stars player.
“If Lauri had stayed in Cleveland, he would not have received the most improved player award”
On the other hand, Möttölä reminds us that development is a relative matter.
– Has Lauri developed, or was he just given the opportunity to show the skills he has had? He went into the perfect situation where he had no pressure to lead the team to the playoffs. Secondly, after a great European Championship summer, with the help of Utah’s coach, he was able to continue the same style of play.
– If Lauri had stayed in Cleveland, he would not have received the award for the most developed player, even if he was in a certain way just as good a basketball player, Möttölä pointed out.
Möttölä pointed out that other NBA organizations could also learn from this. If the players are successful in the European Championship or the World Cup, it is not necessarily reasonable to ask them to play a completely different role in the NBA.
Markkanen played in the All Stars match during the season. According to Möttölä, it was a tougher thing than the choice that has come now, but this choice describes Markkanen’s career development well.
– LeBron James has never been the most improved player because has been so good all along. In the last couple of years, Lauri had to dig a little deeper. This choice is one thing that will be found in Lauri’s cv in the future.
Markkanen was now voted the NBA’s most improved player, but how much can he still improve?
– The players around him are a big deal. Who is the quarterback with whom Lauri goes to lift the Jazz towards the playoffs and even the championship fight? It’s a big thing in his career. He can make statistics even without a top defender, Möttölä said.
– Now the pressure is rising. From now on, the spotlight is on him.