FanPost

3 Reasons Mavs Should Pass on Markkanen

Over the last nearly two decades MFFL’s have had the privilege of watching a high level, competitive team every season. As a result, in combination with the front office undervaluing the draft, Mavs fans haven’t had too much to be invested in on draft night.

This year is different and, though the Mavs seem to be putting some of the pieces together lately, they look to be due for a decent pick. Kevin Pelton at ESPN has Dallas projected to finish up at 34-48, good for 7th or 8th in the lottery. I have them pegged to fall somewhere between pick 8-12, depending on how other teams handle the end of the season and if the Mavericks really do start connecting the dots.

All that is to say, I’ve been eating draft projections and prospects up. It’s been tough watching the Mavericks fall this season (even with the recent excitement of Noel, and the emergence of Curry and Yogi) - but I can’t deny I’ve had fun caring about the draft, and looking at the possibilities of young talent the team could acquire come June.

The name I see most frequently pop up as the new future Mav is Lauri Markkanen, an intriguing freshman stretch 4/5 from Finland, playing at the Univeristy of Arizona. There are obvious skills that he possesses at a young age that will translate well to the NBA: his outside shot, his mobility for his size (listed at 7’ 230 lbs), and his range to play perimeter or inside on both ends. There is also one very blatant reason the Mavericks are constantly linked to him: a certain 7’ European, first ballot hall of famer, who revolutionized an entire position.

But I’m telling Donnie and Cuban to steer clear on draft night, and here’s why:

  • Watching Markkanen it’s hard to initially get past how exciting it is to watch a legit 7 footer camp out around the three point line and so comfortably shoot from behind the arc. His shot is definitely smooth. The mechanics are there. But for the majority of the games that’s what you see him do: passively hang around the perimeter, waiting for the game to come to him. I don’t want that from my lottery pick. His size and athleticism should give him the confidence to take over any game - he’s in some sort of mismatch 80% of the time. And rarely do you see him takeover. No draft prospect (outside of maybe Fultz or Ball) is going to come in to the league and completely take over the offense. But I would like to see that from Markkanen at the college level. And so far, if I had to sum up his offensive game it would be: passive.
  • February wasn’t kind to Markkanen. Non-conference play and early PAC12 play saw him put up some pretty insane numbers, intriguing every scout in America. But the calendar hit February and Markkanen slumped. I’m not sure whether that is part of the up and down of a freshman season, if teams started to figure him out, or whether the return of Alonzo Trier effected his rhythm. But outside of his two games in the state of Washington, the big man went cold. In the month of February Markkanen went 5-26 from the three point line. What was his calling card up to this point, vanished from his game in the last month, and he didn’t make up for it offensively in other ways. And that’s concerning, not knowing what he can turn to when his outside shot isn’t falling. Interested to see if he turns it around come tournament time.
  • It’s time to remove the security blanket! I’m all about Dirk playing for as long as he wants to play. I’d love to see him come off the bench next year so that our starting five can truly be athletic at all five spots. Either way, if Dirk wants to compete, let him! But I’m not interested in ushering in a "Dirk lookalike". First of all, that’s lazy analysis from every writer who links Markkanen to the Mavs. I don’t watch the Wildcat forward and see a young Dirk. His competitive drive doesn’t appear to be the same, and at this point his versatility doesn’t match even a young 41. It also wouldn’t be fair to Markkanen, a young player that only slightly resembles the game of an all time Dallas/NBA legend and expect anything close to the same output. It would be like a parent taking away a child’s security blanket that they’ve had for twenty years, then handing them another one that’s the same size, but doesn’t look the same or feel the same, and the parent trying to convince the child that it’ll be the same. It won’t be.

I have a list of players I think will fall between picks 8-12 that I would gladly pick before Markkanen, but who would you take?


Reader submitted. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of our editorial staff.