Dallas Mavericks 2017 NBA Draft Big Board 4.0

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March 16, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Lauri Markkanen (10) moves to the basket against North Dakota Fighting Hawks forward Drick Bernstine (43) during the second half in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

9. . PF. Arizona. LAURI MARKKANEN (PREV. 5)

I am a believer in the game of Markkanen, but I do think Dallas will focus extremely hard at improving the back court this summer.

Markkanen could legitimately be called the greatest shooting big man prospect to come out of college. The seven footer from Finland spent his freshman season at Arizona where he rose up the draft boards as the season went along.

His shooting is elite, but Markkanen can also put the ball on the ground and drive the paint at times. As far as his offensive game, his post game is something that still needs to be worked on. Sometimes he can get stagnant on the block, but it’s nothing that can’t be taught for the big fella.

Defensively, Markkanen was exposed some in the tournament where he was pushed around at times and struggled to guard some of the heavier inside presences.

Despite the defensive deficiencies, Markkanen is still an elite stretch five prospect. On one hand, the pressure and expectations of playing in Dallas after Dirk Nowitzki would be unfair. On another hand, who better to learn under than the system already in place in Dallas under Rick Carlisle and learning under Nowitzki himself.

If all five (or six) of the guards are off the board when Dallas picks, drafting Markkanen would be a interesting project moving forward.

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