NBA Mock Draft 2017, Week 20: The Sweet Sixteen edition

Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen may be the best 7-foot tall shooting prospect to ever enter the NBA Draft. This season, he’s made 43.3 percent of his 3-point attempts while taking over four per game. Markkanen can shoot it off the catch, he can come off screens and he can play in pick-and-pops. His ability to invert the floor opens up driving lanes for guards. Markkanen is also pretty decent attacking off the dribble for a player his size. He should be a pretty significant plus on the offensive end in the NBA.

Where Markkanen will struggle is defensively. If he’s asked to play power forward, his lateral mobility will be challenged by smaller players. He can likely handle switching onto them for stretches, but will struggle to keep up with many of the small ball power forwards that have taken over the league. If he’s asked to be a center, Markkanen’s lack of rim protection will show itself. Although he’s blocked a few more shots recently, he’s averaging just 0.7 blocks per 40 minutes this season.

Markkanen and Arizona will play Xavier in the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday night. The Musketeers alternate between man and zone defenses that could throw the freshman off, but his outside shooting will be critical to helping the Wildcats break down either of them.

Learn more about Lauri Markkanen at The Step Back.