I am torn on Markkanen. I find the prospect very attractive but I also fear that he is not as good as I want him to be.
Yeah, I have a lot of fear with Markkanen as well. My fear is less about his individual talent and more geared to how his next team views and utilizes him.
(1) Do they see him as a PF?
(2) Or an undersized offensive orientated C?
(3) Are they willing to live with short term pain in terms of defense & rebounding while they train him up at C? Are they willing to live with what will likely be a mediocre defender / rebounder at center long term in order to have a high level offensive contribution from Markkanen on the other end?
I do think the talent is there but I also feel he is the type of player who is highly dependent on being in the right environment for that talent to come because of how
unorthodox a player he is.
I hope he finds a coach and team who has the right vision for him but I am not optimistic. I feel like he has been typecast as a stretch four Dirk Nowitzki-lite type player and that that will work against him.
I'd much rather see him compared to Bob McAdoo.