SALT LAKE CITY — Except for his one season with the Arizona Wildcats in 2016-17, Lauri Markkanen has gotten a glimpse of home in every one of his American stopovers.
That is, every time it snowed in Chicago, where the Finnish 7-footer spent his first four NBA seasons. Or in Cleveland, where he played last season. And now in Salt Lake City, where the Finnish 7-footer is putting together a breakout year.
“I feel like we follow the cold weather,” Markkanen said, referencing wife Verna Aho and their two children. “But it’s been good. I feel like family is adjusting really well, I’m adjusting well, and the organization has been doing a good job of getting us settled.”
But even if the weather is similar, the circumstances are not. Both with the Jazz and in life around Salt Lake City
Of all the places he’s lived in the NBA, Markkanen said Utah feels the most similar to Finland because of the way locals take to the elements.
“It might be that we’ve just gone out more but I feel like there’s more nature and outdoors,” Markkanen said. “Not just me but everyone else is doing it. Obviously, I’m a big hockey guy and I would love to go ice skating but I haven’t really.”
Contractual obligations also keep Markkanen from the nearby downhill ski resorts. But he said he remembered how much fun skiing was as a kid, so it might not be long before his kids, now four and two, give it a shot, too.
“Maybe they’ll pick it up,” Markkanen said. “The family, we love to do outdoor stuff.”
With the Jazz, Markkanen is finding things are beginning to feel like home, too. That is, Markkanen is fitting into nearly the same standout, no-limit role for Utah so far this season as he did for the Finnish national team last summer.
That was Utah’s plan, even before they had Markkanen on their roster.
After watching Markkanen star for Finland in World Cup qualifying and EuroBasket play last summer, new Jazz coach Will Hardy said it particularly struck him how often Markkanen would hold on to rebounds and push the ball up the floor himself.
“He showed a comfort level with the ball that I hadn’t really seen from him before,” Hardy says. “The places he’d been in the NBA, he was playing with really good guards. So that’s not to discredit anything but when you watch him play for Finland” he pushed the ball himself.
Hardy and the Jazz were intrigued enough that they didn’t even finish watching all of Markkanen’s EuroBasket games before getting him as part of a trade for Donovan Mitchell on Sept. 8.
Markkanen played two more EuroBasket games after getting the news. He dropped 43 points in Finland’s 94-86 win over Croatia, and then had 28 points and 11 rebounds in a quarterfinal loss to Spain on Sept. 13.
Then after Markkanen hustled over to Salt Lake City for training camp, so rushed that he lived in a hotel for six weeks, Hardy gave him a simple message.
Lauri Markkanen is thriving in his first season with the Utah Jazz.
“He told me to do what I just did,” Markkanen said.
What Markkanen did was lead Finland in scoring and rebounding during four World Cup qualifiers and seven EuroBasket games. Markkanen averaged 21.8 points and 9.0 rebounds in World Cup qualifiers and 27.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in EuroBasket.
Along the way, Markkanen came across two fellow Europeans who succeeded him at Arizona, Pelle Larsson of Sweden and Kerr Kriisa of Estonia, in World Cup qualifying games.
While Larsson was limited against Finland in what was his first national team game, Markkanen couldn’t help but notice Kriisa, who had 13 points and four assists against Finland.
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen looks to shoot as Suns forward Torrey Craig, right, defends during the first half of their Nov. 18 game.
“He was the guy for them,” Markkanen said. “He gets them going and he can be the star for that team… (Larsson) is a good physical player, he’s big and he’s a really smart player. They’re both good players.”
Finland beat Sweden 85-69 on June 30, when Markkanen had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Markkanen had 18 points and nine rebounds in Finland’s 76-68 win over Estonia on Aug. 28.
Finland wound up winning all four World Cup qualifiers in which Markkanen played while it went 4-3 in EuroBasket games.
Now the Jazz are benefiting from Markkanen and, Hardy says, changing the way they play because of him.
“Obviously, with the Finnish national team he was a focal point, so he wasn’t put into any sort of box,” Hardy said. “It’s a little bit of everything. A lot of everything, actually. That’s just the mindset we’ve had with him — let’s not try to limit him and we’ve carried that over to our whole team. We’ve really tried to take the approach of looking at all of our guys and what they can do and put them in those spots as much as possible.
“Lauri is showing night in and night out that he’s got a lot to offer. He’s not just a catch and shoot player. He’s not just a screener. He’s not just the guy who moves around off ball screens. He does all those things. And he’s good in transition.”
After playing a secondary role in Chicago and Cleveland, Markkanen is also being careful about his role with Utah.
On Wednesday against the Clippers, Markkanen hit 7 of 11 shots — including 4 of 7 3s — but didn’t take any more shots in part because teammate Jordan Clarkson was pouring in 33 points on 10-for-18 shooting.
“Every time I check in, I try to be aggressive and find the looks,” Markkanen said after that game. “But sometimes it’s (a situation) like, Jordan was feeling it in the second quarter. So it is seeing what the game gives you. Last game, I was like 9 for 10 and I was like `Yeah, I should probably shoot.’ “
That was a game against the Bulls last Monday when Markkanen finished with 32 points on 12-for-18 shooting. Then came the deferral to Clarkson two days later and, on Friday against Indiana, Markkanen was back in front again.
He collected 24 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and a steal to lead the Jazz to a 139-119 win.
By doing all that, Markkanen again showed he’s settling in to his new home both on and off the court. He led the Jazz to an easy win and … wore a suit to the postgame news conference.
“I finally got my stuff,” Markkanen said. “I’m not living out of a suitcase anymore.”
If the early season is any indication, Markkanen may not have to again for a while.
