The EuroBasket tournament is getting started overseas, giving many NBA players a chance to show the skills they are working on in the summer.
One player who is doing a lot of great work so far is Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz.
According to Evan Sidery, he is averaging 39.5 points per game for his home country of Finland.
“After a down season in 2024-25 with the Jazz, Markkanen looks poised to bounce back strong,” Sidery wrote on X.
Lauri Markkanen is averaging 39.5 points per game in EuroBasket exhibition play for Finland.
After a down season in 2024-25 with the Jazz, Markkanen looks poised to bounce back strong.pic.twitter.com/SeT8QxguzM
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) August 12, 2025
Sidery said that Markkanen had a “down season” last year, which is true, but it wasn’t that bad.
He produced 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on 42.3 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from the three-point line.
The year before, he was putting up 23.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists on 48.0 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Markkanen was still the most important part of the Jazz’s lineup, and he promises to be that again in 2025-26.
The Jazz expect great things from him, and that is the main reason why they didn’t move him during the summer.
When the offseason started, there were whispers of Markkanen possibly leaving Utah.
But despite a ton of rumors and several teams keen on getting Markkanen, none of the talks got anywhere.
If Markkanen can have a very productive run in the EuroBasket tournament, he will return to the Jazz as a player with something to prove and more international experience under his belt.
This will make Utah even more certain they made the right choice when they didn’t ship him to another team.
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