[Flameres15Participant]

 The top international prospect in the draft, Lauri Markkanen, chose to spend this year in college, rather than the pros. Given his size (7 feet) and shooting (2.4 three-pointers made per game), Markkanen should be getting more national attention. Lauri Markkanen is not a lockdown defender, rebounder, nor does he posses top-tier athleticism. These are all things that keep him from being compared to Kristaps Porzingis, but Markkanen is comprable to Dirk Nowitzki. The NBA idolizes stretch bigmen, and Lauri Markkanen is the best in this draft, and possibly the best in the past couple drafts. When I reviewed film, Markkanen possesses lights out shooting, even with a defender in his face. Also, Markkanen has a spin move that should translate to the NBA. While he doesn’t rebound at a high rate, Markkanen does get in good position. As the NCAA season progresses, Lauri Markkanen should get more recognition and be drafted top-10, although I believe he should go top-5.

[binetParticipant]

Far from the top international prospect. Markannen is old at nearly 20. Not being a pro in Europe at age 18 is already a red flag if you want to go in the NBA. So, he should have been a pro last year in Europe, perhaps even the year before. Top euro guys Ntilikina and Hartenstein are more intriguing and will be taken over him by draft night.

Markannen is not just struggling in Athleticism, rebounding and defense. He is doing so against College competition where being 7′ is arguably sufficient to be good. Jahlil Okafor is close to "worst defender ever" and "worst rebounder ever" at his position in the NBA yet was considerably superior to Markannen at the college level. Non athletic, slow, poor defender just become atrocious at the next level.

Markannen’s offense is good, but he is not as talented or complete as Andrea Bargnani, another 7’0 talented shooter that could not rebound is or was at the same age, and is the fairest comparison you could have, though Lauri is less talented than what Bargnani was. That is probably enough to be top 10/late lottery but not to be considered the best international player in this draft.

 

 

 

 

 

[RalwarezParticipant]

Pretty funny statement about not being a pro in 18 years old as a red flag. But knowing a little more about Markkanen – first – scandinavian youngsters are most of the time late developers physically – so is Markkanen. He has developed rapidly nervertheless – at 18 he was still physically pretty weak – no this problem is fixed. 

He chose NCAA to use it as a stepping stone to NBA – NCAA players are more physical and play faster, stronger than players in Europe – so year in college is good for adapting US style of playing – as he probably gonna be top5 pick at the draft and play next year in NBA.

Its also funny to read as if Markkanen "struggled" in athleticism, rebounding and defense – he actually is playing away from the basket because of his extreme 3 p shooting effeciency (49%), and still manages to average 7.4 rebounds. He also has established himself as a versatile defender who can guard perimeter if switched, move well enough to hedge & recover etc.

As writer above has not obviously seen Markkanen playing under the basket – well – I am estonian – neighbour of Finland – and I have seen it plenty. He can actually play better than Ristic down low – and has enough hops in legs to play above the rim all night long. He has low-post moves and uses both sides, has all the pivot work, up & unders, hooks etc. playing back to the basket, he can defend low post, he rolls down well, catches everything, he can also put it to the floor and slash himself. He actually played for Finland men (not youngsters) national team this summer for euro qualification – and was scoring leader of national team, averaging like, 18 ppg if I´m remember correctly – and that was BEFORE college ball.

Calling Markkanen "slow" is just plain stupid 😀 Watch youtube, dude. Markkanen is much, much faster than Bargnani, also he plays more physical, has much better feel for the game and Bball IQ. 

If I were you, binet, I ´d keep my day job. Markkanen is going to be top5, most likely top3 pick in a draft.

 

[binetParticipant]

 Last 2 euro non-pros drafted in the lottery were Alex Len and Jerome Moiso. Euro Pro drafted directly after Moiso: Turkoglu. Euro pro drafted directly after Len: Antetokounmpo. Even if you look further the euro pros were often more successful. It is not a huge sample size, but it clearly is a low key red flag. If you are a really promising talent in Europe, you will be a pro at 18, even when you are considered a hidden gem like Antetokounmpo. Guys talented enough at 16~ish to become NBAers usually impress their coaches and all enough to become Pros before their 19th anniversary.

Saying Markannen has a better bball IQ than Bargnani is just wrong. Take your own advice and watch youtube. Watch young Bargnani in Italy. Bargnani is soft enough though that I will concede you the "Markannen plays more physical", yet Lauri’s rebounding rate, including defensive rebounds which has nothing to do with 3pointers, is bad for a 7′ guy in NCAA and alarming.

 

 

 

[Anton123Participant]

He’s not a euro non-pro, he’s a European guy who’s played in college just like Domantas Sabonis, that’s who you can compare him to, what does it matter if he was a pro before college? None of the other NCAA players were.

[binetParticipant]

 Sabonis played in Unicaja Malaga. Sabonis came in America one year younger. Not the same at all.

 

[JM40Participant]

 I’ve thought for a few weeks now that Markkannen should be in the discussion for the top overall pick.  A team needing a stretch four would love this guy.  I know there are some unreal PG prospects in this year’s draft, but this guy is the real deal IMO.  He’s currently third on my big board behind Ball and Fultz, but I can see realistic scenarios where he’s be on top of some teams lists.

[warson24]

I’m getting sick of comparing every 7 footer from Europe who can make a three pointer to Dirk since 1998…
Markkanen is a very nice prospect, but Dirk is a once in a generation player, and MAYBE Porzingis could be something similar. 
Given Lauri’s rebounding and defense the best comparison is Ryan Anderson. 
Like Anderson he can shoot it very well, but has nothing much other skills to offer, and if Markkanen can go through the same path to a 20 million per year contract, I think he’ll accepts what I said.

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Yeah Im starting to think people havent even watched this kid. Comparisons to Dirk. Comparisons to Hedo who was a ball dominant PG basically that gaurded SF’s. Turkoglu was like a poor mans Euro T-Mac. Saying his defense is bad.

He is a great defender and so versatile on that end he gaurds every position some games because he just understands how much space to give the offensive player is long enough to.cheat a bit on quicker players and moves his feet so well. He is not used to physicality and what type physicality is legal but he is not scared of it and will bang with the bigs. He attacks the rim for offensive rebounds and he literally beat UCLA himself by grabbing an offensive board which was TJ Leafs rebound to grab and that was after hitting a three, a mid range jumper high post and a face up drive to the rim. Ive never seen him take an off balance shot fading, he sees the floor great passes well and probally has three hockey assists a game setting.up the offense and athletically you wont see him jumping out.of the gym but he is so smooth and nimble and has great agillity.

Keep in mind this is not me giving any favoritism, this kid isn’t Canadian so I’m not being.bias and he isn’t dating my sister so you know when I say this I’m being a straight shooter. He really has no weaknesses in regards to his role. He will get stronger and learn to deal with physicality but in reality Porzingis proved you don’t need to be 260 pounds and cut to deal with NBA bigs nowadays. Nogeuira has been starting games for Toronto this year and that kid makes Charmin toilet paper look like steel wool he’s so soft but he still blocks and rebounds. In realitymuch u Markannen is a lot like Porzingis in what he can provide for a team the difference is he won’t have as much upside because it is not in his nature to play hero ball. He will be a fundimentally sound stretch PF/C that doesn’t try to play hero ball and will really space out the floor for his teammates and help a lot on the defensive end against versatile offensive opponents.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 I think he is right there in the conversation for best non gaurd in this draft. Other than Fultz and Smith Jr. you can make a case for him being the best prospect depending on what the drafting team needs. He is right up there with Jackson, Ball, Tatum, Isaac, Monk and I would be surprised if 7 players get picked ahead of him.

[RalwarezParticipant]

 He will definitely rise come summer. He really has minimal flaws in his game. Being poor defender, one dimensional like Ryan Anderson, below average rebounder – that just total bs. 

I understand that somewhat – because in Arizona there are so many quality players – and Markkanen mostly plays off the ball. Because of that he cant quite show off is driving ability – which is actually enormous – basically he is unguardable at iso. He understands pick and roll and can be both pick-man and roll-man. He is great passer. Offensively its hard to see him go under 20 ppg in NBA after freshman season.

Defensively – Arizona´s defensive rebounder, who gathers down low – is Dusan Ristic. Markkanen´s job is rather block out and run transition. Its just stupid look at the numbers without context, and say – "he takes 8 rebounds per game, he is poor rebounder".
 
Also the theory about being pro, not being pro – is stupid – most europeans who play for famous clubs – are not pro´s – they are part of clubs youth academy – so they can play ACB league, but are making no money – and thats why they are eligible to play in NCAA – watch Sabonis or Karnowski or others. In addition to that – every players development dynamics is different – Rubio was physically mature being 16 years old – when Markkanen grew an inch from summer ´16

I just have been seeing Markkanen playing in youth tournaments from when he was 14, so I know what he can do.

 

 

[r377Participant]

I agree with Warson, not every Euro that can shoot a 3 ball is the next Dirk or Zinga. Lauri is more likely to be in the Brad Miller, Kaminsky, Ryan Anderson category.

I can’t believe some user (obvi a biased Lauri fan) with a grand total of negative 14 points writes that he will go a top 3 pick and gets +12 !!! No way he goes top 3, I think he will struggle to crack the top 10 (although stretch 4/5 who can shoot the 3 ball is the current fad in the NBA now). Sabonis, Papgiannis and Korkmaz were all good international players – doesn’t mean they should of gone top 3 in the draft.

Bargnani – we may now laugh at Bargnani but he must have some skill and promise to be the no1 pick in the draft. He did average 21ppg one season in the NBA.
Actually Bargs wasn’t physical, didn’t really try too much on D and was a volume selfish shooter (cancer). Lauri is more of a teammate and not as selfish. I actually think his shooting % will be better than Bargnani. He may be a slighter better defender and rebounder than Bargs (not something really that difficult to achieve) prob more due to effort than anything.

The Good –
At 7″ 230lbs, looks like he has hit the weights and has some muscle. He looks like he could get to 250lbs. Outstanding 3 point shooter. He looks disciplined and a good teammate. He isn’t a chucker and looks like he would work hard and listen to coaches at the next level

The Bad –
Rebounding: he just doesn’t have the position or nose for the ball. I’ve seen him get outrebounded and bullied/pushed around by SG and SF. Defence – looks very robotic out there and sometimes looks lost. Doesn’t have good feel or intuition on defence. Guards can take it to the hoop and score on him. At 7ft tall he should be able to block shots or at least alter them or make them tougher. His defence is definitely such a concern his coach took him out on some defensive plays down the stretch – that has to tell you something…Footspeed, speed, athletic is below average. Inside game I dont’ know about since he camps at the 3 point line 90% of the time. The few times I did see him go inside it wasn’t good, mainly due to his lack of vert and athleticism.

Pro outlook –
Currently ranked 10th on here and 7th on DX I think is a reach. He is not going to be the next Dirk, Zinga, KLove or Kiki Vandeweghe. I think he is going to be more of a Frank Kaminsky / Brad Miller type. He prob wont be a starter and more likely look at scoring 10-16ppg as a pro. If you take him at 3 or 5 you will regret it but would be worth the risk taking him 12-20 just for his sweet 3 point touch.

Just my thoughts

[RedRiddlerParticipant]

 They are 1.5 games out of the 5 th pick. They love love love the 3 point shot. 

 

People think defense is thier main problem it is not. Hasn’t been since they got healthy in January and not now that they have a legit defensive talent at the 5 spot in Jusuf Nurkic. 

They really need a consistent 3 Rd option who can score. I think Lauri has the potential to be a 15-20ppg guy pretty early on. The Blazers have a great system for getting guys wide open looks. 

 

Only problem is none of those guys are good. Lillard is shooting below avg. Other than McCollum and Crabbe the team is shooting bad from 3. Lauri would be a great boost, he can help them and they can put him in a position to succeed.

 

 

I can totally see them drafting Lauri with thier pick as they have 2 top teir gaurds in this league and therefore no interest in gambling thier pick on a PG who won’t supplant and probably won’t be as good as Dame and McCollum.

 

So I can see them as a highly likely spot for him. Also they have have Aminu who is a very good rebounder shot blocker and rim protector at the 4 spot. 

 

If they go with the league they can do alot with small ball Lauri at the 5 an Aminu at the 4. At times like crunch time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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