Morning Sixers – Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017

“There’s a player that when many fans hear (without actually watching much of his game) his position automatically say “no not another big” but I think he’s going to be very good. We saw how well a legit 3pt shooting stretch 4 meshed with Embiid earlier in the season with Ersan. And we have already made the mistake of passing on Porzingis. I think Lauri and Embiid would be a great combo.”

— Tom

The other day I called Malik Monk a high end version of an archetype I don’t like. Markkanen is the opposite of that.

One of my long standing NBA beliefs has been that shooting at the power forward spot is an underrated skill set, especially as the NBA has continually moved to a pick and roll centric league. Pulling the other team’s 2nd tallest player (and likely their 2nd best rebounder and shot blocker) can do worlds to spread the floor and open up an offense.

I have confidence in Markkanen being able to do that. 43.3% from three (on 157 attempts), 83.3% from the line (162 attempts), good off the catch. He can even shoot on the move. Beyond the numbers, the jumper is pure and repeatable, and I’d be very surprised if he didn’t extend that to NBA three-point range. He can even drill a shot coming off of a screen.

So as the season went along I kept Markkanen on my radar because of how much I like his archetype, and the confidence I had in his ability to fill a role.

Yet as the season wore on my interest in him started to wane.

Get the rest of this answer, as well as a collection of Sixers links over the past 24 hours, over at patreon.com (subscribers only).