LauriMarkkanen

Preseason question: Markkanen has been out of sight, out of mind the past few years. During Utah’s strategic step away from respectability over the past few seasons, he missed about 40 percent of its regular-season games and was never seriously considered to make another All-Star team. Despite that, and despite his rotating cast of teammates, the Jazz have had an above-average offense when Markkanen’s been on the floor over the past three seasons. Last season, he quietly averaged 26.7 points per game, harnessing his elite off-ball gravity (not quite Steph Curry–esque but near that level) without pretty much ever needing to dribble the ball. His mere presence elevates the whole, and guards who will be asked to shoulder more traditional playmaking responsibilities, like Keyonte George and Darryn Peterson, could not ask for a more ideal teammate. But when the natural flow of the offense breaks down in crunch time, particularly if and when Markkanen gets to compete in his very first playoff series, will he also be able to put his head down and use his size to create scoring chances the old-fashioned way? Also, Markkanen’s 3-point percentage has waned a little bit over the past couple of seasons, and Utah’s chance of making real noise this season hinges on him bumping his accuracy back up to around the 40 percent mark where it used to be.