Doug Ammon, NBA International
The year: 1998.
The arena: General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The event: The NBA Draft – a night where the future of your franchise can either be solidified for years to come or left in the doldrums of resentment. No matter the outcome that lies ahead, what transpires on that day will always be based in the idea of hope.
On that late June evening in 1998, the Dallas Mavericks were slated to pick ninth and went with a slender, sharp-shooting, seven-footer hailing from Würzburg, Germany named Dirk Nowitzki. Little did the Mavs know that pick would turn a into 13-time All-Star, 2007 MVP, 2011 NBA champion and future Hall of Famer known globally as the pioneer to the now-coveted stretch-four position.
Fast forward 17 years and 2,991 miles away to the Barclays Center, when the New York Knicks selected Kristaps Porzingis with the fourth overall pick in 2015. Recently touted as a basketball “unicorn” by Warriors superstar Kevin Durant, Porzingis initially entered the league to a chorus of fanfare because of the similarities many scouts saw in his game to Dirk. Both were born abroad and began their playing careers in Europe, and both would have traditionally been supplanted to the paint if not for their unique ability to hit smooth jumpers, making them nearly unstoppable weapons on the offensive side of the floor.
Now, it appears as if the gauntlet may be passed to Finnish seven-footer Lauri Markkanen, who many have pegged as a top-10 selection in this year’s upcoming draft.
Unlike Porzingis and Nowitzki, Markkanen played college ball in the United States for the University of Arizona, giving fans in America a glimpse at what those NBA scouts must have seen when they visited Latvia or Germany to see two athletic specimens with games that you had to see to believe.
At U of A, Markkanen averaged an impressive 15.6 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game. He attempted and made the most 3s on the Wildcat roster (69-for-163) while his 63.5 true shooting percentage, an advanced metrics stat that factors in 2-pointers, 3-pointers and free throws to calculate a player’s actual shooting efficiency, was tops on a team that tallied 32 wins and finished 1st in the Pac-12.
Now, after choosing to go pro after just one year of college basketball, Markkanen finds himself entering the 2017 Draft with the same amount of buzz as those eloquent European bigs of drafts past who had the ability to stuff the stat sheet in a variety of ways.
Before finding out which NBA team he’ll be joining, Markkanen first had to endure the initial step in the draft process, the Draft Lottery. A night that ignites the hope for many franchises and kickstarts the hype within many fan bases.
As the cards were read on Tuesday night in Manhattan and it was revealed the Celtics, Lakers and Sixers would pick first, second and third, Markkanen’s attention was most likely drawn to who was slated to pick eighth and ninth, the New York Knicks followed by the Dallas Mavericks.
With most scouts having him selected in those two slots, it just so happens that the heir apparent to Dirk or Porzingis may actually end up playing alongside one or the other. Could he serve as the perfect bridge between an aging Nowitzki and a young, hungry Mavs roster? Or, could he and Porzingis form a frontline like never seen before and bring one of the league’s most storied franchises back into relevance?
No matter when Markkanen hears his name called, the future looks bright for the 19-year-old entering a league that’s trending more towards the style of basketball he’s been playing all his life.
While it’s easy and complimentary to compare Lauri Markkanen to the European bigs that have blazed the trail before him, it’s clear that his journey will have its own path and get underway sooner than later.
