[OllstarParticipant]

This guy is moving up my draft board and I think he’ll be the first big off the board as early as 6.

 I see the Ryan Anderson comp and think its fair but what other players does he remind you of?

Markannen had a phenomenal shooting year despite a midseason slump. I saw that his shooting #s were similar to Gordon Haywards 2nd year at Butler. Hayward had a much better handle in college and also better rebounding and defensive stats but both have similar win shares.

Markannen did show some ability to put the ball on the floor and pull up for shots and I think he showed some SF skills like Hayward in that sense. In his season at Arizona, he didn’t display the distrubiting ability of Hayward but most Euro bigs have good IQ and can pass.

How about a taller, poor man’s Gordon Hayward.

That’s a pretty bad comp I’ll admit, but to me this guy has a chance to be special like Hayward but in a different way I suppose.

Mirotic, Ryan Anderson are good comps for Markannen. Are there anyothers people like?

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

 He really shouldn’t be moving up your big board. He’s an excellent shooter, but an okay rebounder, and a poor defender. His IQ and passing abiltiy are good, but schouts are looking for him to play more defense and rebound, which he hasn’t shown to be able to do consistently. He has the potential to get better. Right now, I would compare him to Ryan Anderson, but if he continues to improve his boards, and defense. then he could be like Nowitski or Kevin Love, but that’s a big if.

Right now I have him at 10 and the 2nd big off my board.

 

[llperez]

Not seeing the Hayward comparison at all. Lauri’s ball handling is limited to pump faking and a couple dribbles. You will never see him bring it up the court or be asked to do much creating in half court sets. I actually view him more as a center then a pf. He’s 7 foot and has a good frame and muscle so he can hold his own physically. But as a PAC 12 fan who saw him play about 9-10 times this past year, I think he is one of the more overrated prospects. I see him slipping outside top 10. He’s a bad defender, both on his man and help side. And he dissapears when he doesn’t get the ball. Doesn’t run court, do a good job moving off the ball, doesn’t make those come from nowhere rebounds from out of his area. When he does beat guys off the dribble he has very little explosiveness around the rim and thus struggled finishing. He was taken out of numerous games by teams that didn’t leave him alone and stayed attached. People forget Ryan Anderson put up 22-10 his last year in college and was much more active with more lively feet. Markkanen projects more to me like a spencer hawes then Ryan Anderson. Lauri put up 0.9apg…0.5blcks…0.4stls…he’s invisible when he’s not scoring. In arizonas 2 point loss to Xavier in seeet 16, lauri finished with 9 points despite playing the entire 40 minutes. I’m not sure why people are so high on him to be honest. I hear dirk comparisons and I just laugh. Lauri pretty much has to have his feet set and shoulders squared to be effective. That’s why he was held to single digits so many times throughout the season, he’s easy to neutralize assuming you don’t leave him alone. He doesn’t have that nasty go get it game.

[SpartanGloryParticipant]

 The guy is severely overrated. His only real strength is his shooting and height. I would say he’s going to get exposed big time in the NBA but there’s not much to expose with his glaring rebounding/defensive red flags.. If he can step in off the bench and hit a couple threes a game at a good percentage, that will be a success for him. His best comparison I think would be Yi Jianlian… like I said in another post, people should be talking more about Swanigan in Markennen’s spot in the lottery. I’d love to see them work out against each other. 

[kobyzParticipant]

 Rashard lewis in Orlando days…

[holefillers1Participant]

Taller Marvin Williams or a better shooting Jason Smith.  

[KerouacJackParticipant]

100% inaccutate. Both Williams and Smith were athletic marvels, who tested very well and were drafted as highly as they were based on their insane potential. Also Williams had the "benefit" of bench warming on a championship winning team as a freshman…. which very much hid his flaws. Markkanen is not a great athlete, he will not wow anyone with workout numbers, but he did start and he shot amazingly well.

 Sometimes potential needs to take a backseat and talent alone needs to stand out. 

[holefillers1Participant]

 I will say that Markkanen can come off screens and make shots and moves well enough to keep opposing 4’s busy.  He can’t jump out of the gym as a 7 footer but he is a very mobile big who plays like a wing. 

Look beyond the vertical

 

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 Dude is allergic to rebounds. Ryan Anderson was one of the best offesnsive rebounders in the league his first few years in the league. Lauri is going to have a hard time getting on the floor when he can’t even get rebounds in his own area, or defend anyone.

[nill650Participant]

 The funny thing is I think Boston is taking him if Jackson goes 2 to LA , whether its at 3 (unlikley) or trading down with Sac for more assets I’m leaning toward the latter. I also think Smith is a strong contender for the Boston job IF they are moving on from Smart,Bradley in a trade deal for Butler,or PG13.

[HitsterParticipant]

 I like the Ryan Anderson comparison personally, Marvin was more hyped at a similar age but has learnt to play good defence during his years in the NBA.

I agree with shooting bigs being in vogue at the moment, if Lauri was a superior defender then he’d be in the mix to go top 5.

It’s hard to say where he may go, I’d say 8 to 12 range. Dallas could possibly nab him but I’d rather they take Frank N if he is still on board. Kings and Hornets have shooting bigs already so might SVG at Detroit be a good fit for him. Next to Drummond on court he’d have an elite rebounder to cover for him and they would help stretch the play nicely.

 

 

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

 Tito Horford

[mowestenParticipant]

 Channing Frye, elite 3-point shooter, mediocre rebounder/defender. I think this kid handles it better, Frye has nothing off the bounce. 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

I’ve been saying this a lot but he reminds me of Kenny Atkinson era Brook Lopez wherein he shoots threes. They even have the same shooting form. They have the ability to put in on the floor when defenders close out but also they are both poor rebounders.

[Andrew1984Participant]

 Michael Doleac

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

 What ever happened to him?   I thought he was going to be a starting center on this league.

[Ahkasi ClayParticipant]

 Nevermind. I just looked him up and realized that he has been retired for a decade.  I just made myself feel old.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Honestly, he is extremely similar to Dirk at the same age. Very similar skill sets, body types, and demensions. Of course, I am talking about comparing him to a 19 year old Dirk and not the guy who eventually grew into a league MVP and generational type talent. It would be foolish to expect him to have Dirk’s career. However, if you took them as 19 year olds without knowing what we know now about Dirk, they were very similar players at the same developmental stage.

[Author]

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