2017 NBA Mock Draft, Week 22: College basketball is over
By Chris Stone
Learn more about Lauri Markkanen at The Step Back."
> 
11
Lauri Markkanen
PF, Arizona
Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen is arguably the best big man shooting prospect to ever enter the NBA Draft. At 7-feet tall, he made 42.3 percent of his 163 3-point attempts this season. Markkanen fired up more than five 3s per 40 minutes and shot it well from the free throw line (83.5 percent), suggesting that his jumper is certainly no fluke. The 19-year old is comfortable coming off of screens, can pull up off the dribble and is an obvious pick-and-pop threat on the perimeter. NBA head coaches will have the potential to run wild with the kinds of mismatches and floor inversion that Markkanen creates.
The problem is figuring out what else he can contribute to a team. Markkanen does have a decent post game for attacking switches and he rebounds alright simply due to his size, but his not a great passer on offense and he really struggles to contribute defensively. Markkanen recorded just 19 blocks and 15 steals in 37 games this season. That his rim protection numbers were so low is quite frankly unthinkable for a player of his size in college.
It’s possible Markkanen will improve at the NBA level if he spends some time on the court as the lone big — something he didn’t do frequently at Arizona — but his value is mostly going to come from his offensive game, which is quite good.