Zona Zealots 2017 NBA Draft Speculation: Lauri Markkanen
By Kevin Jiang
“With the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics select… Lauri Markkanen from the University of Arizona.”
When it comes to analyzing one of the deepest drafts in recent memory, media speculation surrounding college basketball and the NBA has reached an all-time high. Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen is right smack in the middle of the speculation and analysis.
The lottery has yet to be set, yet people are already drooling about the prospects of teaming former UDubb phenom Isaiah Thomas with current Huskies playmaker Markelle Fultz in Boston. Or pairing the marksmanship talents of Kentucky’s Devin Booker with UCLA‘s Lonzo Ball in Phoenix. Or even stashing the physical specimen that is FSU‘s Jonathan Isaac into “The Process‘s” front court mix.
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While this draft is especially full of promise and stellar guard play, the fit of each player’s skill set with their future respective teams is really the only thing that matters at the end of the day. With that being said, the team at ZonaZealots would like to take a look at where the Wildcats’ best current NBA prospect may land in this upcoming draft.
First Overall Pick
Boston Celtics (via Brooklyn Nets): Lauri Markkanen, PF
Scouting the best available talent and gauging professional potential is an imperfect science, yet we continue to take stabs at guessing who will be the best, no matter the sport.
To cite one of my favorite books Soccernomics, “blonds tend to stand out (except, presumably, in Scandinavia).” Finland borders the Scandinavian peninsula and has a lot of blonds, so when a young Lauri Markkanen suited up for the Finnish National Team as a teenager, he stood out on talent alone. As a talented freshman now playing NCAA basketball, he is up for NBA scouting interrogation in a league that has had a history of prejudicing European ‘blonds’ at times.
Lauri is currently in a shooting funk, and we’d hate to jinx him in any way, but there’s a lot to like about this kid apart from how he looks. For those who regularly support Arizona, it’s already abundantly evident as to why Lauri is going to be a lottery pick: the Finnish Freshman Phenom is a true seven-footer who can shoot at an incredible rate from deep.
What’s even better about Lauri’s skill set and draft stock is that national media outlets seem to like him as much, if not more, than Cats fans already do. In USA Today’s 2017 NBA Mock Draft, Jason MacIntyre currently has the Boston Celtics taking Markannen with the first overall pick.
We can thank Dirk for redefining what it means to be a European, sharp-shooting big man in the NBA. Additionally, we have to thank Kristaps for not being a bust, giving GMs all across the league the necessary reassurance and green light that it’s now okay (again) to draft a European with a top-5 pick.
With the stage set for Lauri, the idea of seeing him become the first draft pick to walk across the stage and shake Adam Silver’s hand this summer becomes less and less outlandish.
Now we are currently assuming that the first pick will go to Boston from Brooklyn, given that the Nets will have the best lottery odds and that their pick is controlled by Boston.
Since everyone around the league seems to accept this draft positioning as a pre-lottery fact, the Celtics have been scouring the league for options and talent that can help them become the kings of the East once again. They have already tested the trade waters for a power forward Serge Ibaka, but they were unable to pull the trigger on him.
As MacIntyre writes, it seems as though another forward is the sort of player that Boston believes they need to set them over the hump: “Boston’s got guards, wings, and defenders, and Markkanen could be the final piece to the puzzle.”
I generally agree with this sentiment. Boston is deep with players that can rotate between guard and forward roles and handle defensive assignments; however, they lack the proverbial cherry on top when it comes to offense.
In today’s NBA game, having a seven-footer that can knock down three-point shots has paid huge dividends for some of the league’s elite teams, and I truly believe that Boston will take a serious look at Lauri if they do in fact land that coveted first overall pick.
Relive some of Lauri’s highlights so far this year with this video:
The Pac-12 is experiencing a significant resurgence in the college basketball landscape, and it seems like a safe bet that we will see at least three Pac-12 players selected in the lottery, but Lauri must be selected first overall if we’re going to see three of the conference’s best players at the very top of the draft. While no one knows exactly which teams will possess the top picks, I do believe that Boston would be better off taking a player like Markkanen with their lottery pick.
As good a player as Fultz is, he does not currently address a “need” for the Celtics, which is why we could see Lauri go first overall in this June’s draft.
Next: Arizona Ranked No. 5 in Latest AP Poll
The University of Arizona ranks sixth all-time in terms of colleges that produce NBA talent through the NBA Draft; however, the Cats have never had a player go first overall in the draft. Lauri still has time to cement his legacy as an Arizona Wildcat, but he has already made the ZonaZealots team very proud. Bear Down Lauri!