Lauri Markkanen (138 views)

[👨🏼‍⚕️delapandemic🚑]

Lauri Markkanen

PF

7'0"

222

19

Arizona

An elite-shooting big-man, Markkanen Finnishes well from all over the court in any style of offense.  He may actually be the best shooter in this draft regardless of position. He has smooth mechanics, a soft touch, and good balance off the catch. He is not only lethal off the catch, but he is also a prolific shooter on the move off of screens, pull-ups, face-up jumpers out of the post, etc.  In addition, he has great footwork when chased off the three-point line and can effortlessly shoot the ball off the dribble, especially going to his left.  He even showed flashes of pull-up jumpers as a pick and roll ball handler in his arsenal, something extremely rare for his size.  Markkanen is not a high level athlete, but he can finish above the rim in space due to his superior height and decent leaping ability for his size. He also does a solid job of attacking the offensive glass for a stretch-four man.  As skilled as Markkanen is on the offensive end, he offers nowhere near the same potential on defense.  His lack of strength is a major soncern as he gets toseed around pretty easily by NCAA bigs and already has filled out with broad shoulders. His core and leg strength need a lot of work, and may never allow him to battle inside against TMBSL’s top post players.  He does not have great length, limiting his ability to protect the rim, and being thin for his height, he plays a lot smaller than his size.