The draft stock of Lauri Markkanen has been fluctuating in recent months. After a rough end to the season and the emergence of Zach Collins, Markkanen has struggled mightily to hold onto his top 10 place in the draft. I don’t think Markkanen has much potential as all he can really do is shoot. Don’t get me wrong, shooting is key, but he needs to be able to do more than just that.
Markkanen has a lack of awareness when it comes to protecting the paint and grabbing rebounds. Being seven foot tall Markkanen was only able to average 9.3 rebounds per 40 minutes and 0.7 block per 40, these are atrocious. He is also very slow footed, he struggles to move laterally, he will definitely struggle defensively in the NBA.
I think that Markkanen’s upside is nothing more than Ryan Anderson and Nikola Mirotic level. He may be best served coming off the bench and playing against the opposition’s second unit. He also needs to play alongside a defensive big man, playing next to Nikola Jokic would be awful defensively.