3. Lauri Markkanen is his own man
Lauri Markkanen was doomed to be here from the beginning. He’s a big, he can shoot 3s, he isn’t that strong defensively, and he is European. The Dirk comparisons came early, and they came often. Markkanen has also gotten called the next Kristaps, because again, no one can compare a European big man to any other type of player besides European big men.
This isn’t a situation like Isaac and Ingram, who merely look similar but have few realistic similarities. After all, Markkanen *is* a finesse big, who is an outlier shooter, and who has minimal evidence to support being even a passable defensive player. However, he brings a different skill set to the game than either of his two most common comparisons. While Dirk could kill you from the high post, and Porzingis is an excellent offensive rebounder, Markkanen’s supplemental skill comes in his ability to drive one-on-one. Potentially, he will be better with the ball 20 feet from the basket than Nowitzki or Porzingis are, and if his passing develops, this could allow him to be on Dirk’s level as a matchup nightmare, though in a different way.
Some day, we will be able to see a European player taller than 6-foot-9 with a 3-point shot and not immediately go, “DIRK! DIRK! HE’S DIRK FINALLY THE NEXT DIRK!” Maybe if Markkanen truly finds a role as an off-the-dribble creator, that will help create a new subset of the Dirk comparison tree, much like Porzingis has been able to do. Otherwise, his lasting legacy in this draft class is that apparently, going to an American college and playing on national TV doesn’t prevent you from reductive xenophobic draft comparisons as a European big man.