Lauri Elias Markkanen (; born 22 May 1997) is a Finnish professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and for the Finland national team. Nicknamed "the Finnisher", he is the son of Finnish basketball players Pekka and Riikka Markkanen, and the younger brother of footballer Eero Markkanen.
Starting his career with HBA-Märsky in the Finnish second-tier league, Markkanen represented Finland at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket in 2015 and the FIBA U20 EuroBasket in 2016, and was the top scorer in both tournaments. He moved to the United States and played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats in the 2016–17 season, where he earned first-team All-Pac-12 honours in his lone year with the team. He was selected seventh overall in the 2017 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves before being included in a draft-night trade to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler. Following a stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Markkanen experienced a career resurgence in his first year with the Jazz, earning his first All-Star selection and winning the Most Improved Player Award in 2023. He also led Finland in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup tournament. After two successful seasons with the Jazz, Markkanen signed a five-year contract extension with the franchise.
Markkanen was named the Finnish Athlete of the Year in 2023, as the first basketball player ever to win the award.
Markkanen was born in Vantaa, but grew up in Jyväskylä. He played his junior years in the local team HoNsU (Hongikon Nuorisoseuran Urheilijat). In 2014, Markkanen moved to Helsinki and joined Helsinki Basketball Academy. He played for the academy team HBA-Märsky in the Finnish second-tier league from 2014 to 2016. He attended the Basketball Without Borders camp in 2015.
On 17 October 2015, Markkanen verbally committed to the NCAA Division I squad Arizona Wildcats prior to the 2016–17 season. Lauri signed a letter of intent to Arizona on 11 November. ESPN.com reported that the seven-foot Finn was considered "a possible one-and-done candidate for the NBA draft." He became the first Wildcats player since Mike Bibby to wear the jersey number 10. In January 2017, SB Nation regarded him as "the best shooting 7-footer college basketball has ever seen". Within the same month Markkanen was selected as Pac-12 Player of the Week as well as the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week. He has also been named to the pre-season Karl Malone Award Watchlist, Naismith Award Watchlist, Wooden Award Watchlist, Wooden Award Midseason Top 25, Wayman Tisdale Award Midseason watch list, Oscar Robertson Award Midseason watch list, Karl Malone Award Finalist, Naismith Top 30 Finalist. Markkanen was among the 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award.
He recorded a career-high 30 points on 12 Jan against rival Arizona State. Also recording a career-high 13 rebounds three times against Northern Colorado, Washington State, and Washington. His career-high three blocks came against Arizona State in the regular season finale on 4 March 2017.
Markkanen was selected to the third team All-American team by the Associated Press, NBC Sports, USA Today, and the Sporting News on 6 March 2017. He was a first team All-Pac-12 selection, as well as first team All-Pac-12 Freshman team and first team All-Pac-12 team in Associated Press.
At the conclusion of his freshman season, Markkanen announced his intention to forgo his final three years of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2017 NBA draft.
Markkanen was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the seventh pick of the first round of the 2017 NBA draft. On draft night, his rights were traded to the Chicago Bulls along with Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn for Jimmy Butler and the rights to Justin Patton. On 5 July 2017, Markkanen signed with the Bulls on a four-year rookie scale contract worth $20.4 million.
On 19 October 2017, Markkanen made his NBA debut with the Bulls and scored 17 points. Markkanen then set an NBA record on 24 October, for most 3-pointers in the first three games of an NBA career with ten 3-pointers. Markkanen also asked former NBA player Brian Scalabrine to use his number 24, which Brian allowed. On 30 December, Markkanen scored a career-high 32 points and seven rebounds in a 119–107 win against the Indiana Pacers. On 10 January 2018, Markkanen played a career-high 46 minutes, scored a career-high 33 points along with a career-high eight 3-pointers in a double overtime 122–119 win against the New York Knicks. This made him the second seven-foot player to make eight three-pointers in a game (the first being Dirk Nowitzki). On 22 January, he grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds against the New Orleans Pelicans. Four days later, Markkanen blocked a career-high three shots against the Los Angeles Lakers.
After scoring seventeen points against the Milwaukee Bucks on 28 January 2018, Markkanen surpassed Hanno Möttölä (715) as the career leading scorer among NBA players from Finland. On 22 May 2018, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He ended his rookie season leading the Bulls in rebounds with 7.5 and fourth in scoring with 15.2; his 14 double-doubles was third among rookies behind Kyle Kuzma and Ben Simmons.
Markkanen missed the first 23 games of the season. He had a career-high 19 rebounds in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets on 28 January. He also had 31 points and 18 rebounds in a win over Brooklyn on 8 February; a career-high 35 points along with 15 rebounds in a win over the Boston Celtics on 23 February; and 31 points and 17 rebounds in win over the Atlanta Hawks on 1 March. On 28 March, Markkanen was ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing tests for his health problems, which he experienced in a 26 March game against the Toronto Raptors. In the 52 games he did play, he was second on the team with 18.7 points and first with 9.0 rebounds and 20 double-doubles (fourth in the NBA).
Markkanen began the season tying a career-high with 35 points along with 17 rebounds in a one-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the most opening-day points by a Chicago Bull since Michael Jordan in 1995.
On 30 January 2021, Markkanen scored a season-high 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 6-of-11 from three in a 122–123 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. After the Bulls added veteran big men Daniel Theis and Nikola Vučević to their roster to fortify their frontcourt, Markkanen lost his starting spot. On 29 March, Markkanen came off the bench for the first time during the season and the second in his 194 career games, he finished with 13 points, six rebounds and an assist across 22 minutes in a 102–116 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Since Markkanen moved to the second unit, he had been given a limited time and had been playing the small forward position. In a game against the Memphis Grizzlies on 12 April, Markkanen went scoreless for the first time in his career.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2021–2022)
On 28 August 2021, Markkanen was acquired by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team sign-and-trade also involving the Portland Trail Blazers. Markkanen reportedly signed a four-year contract worth $67.5 million to complete the deal.
He made his Cavaliers debut on 20 October, recording ten points and nine rebounds in a 132–121 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. On 18 March 2022, he scored a season-high 31 points, alongside ten rebounds and four steals, in a 119–116 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets.
During his lone season in Cleveland, Markkanen averaged 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists on 45% from the field and 36% on 3-point shots. Markkanen was the starting small forward for the Cavs for the majority of the season, and he along with rookie starting power forward Evan Mobley and starting center Jarrett Allen formed "Tower City" (a reference to the Cleveland RTA hub of the same name) going against the widely accepted NBA small ball strategy and instead using 3 big men in the starting lineup. The strategy paid off, as the Cavs ended the year 7th in defensive rating and Markkanen put up career highs in defensive metrics.