Predictable comparisons of a sweet-shooting seven-footer to Dirk Nowitzki are often seen as low hanging fruit, but Henrik Dettmann thinks that they may be quite applicable in Lauri Markkanen’s case.
Dettmann, who currently coaches Markkanen on his native Finnish national team and formerly coached Nowitzki on the German national team, discussed the similairities between the two players over the weekend.
“I don’t need to say how special is. You all see it when he plays,” said Dettmann of Markkanen, per Antonis Stroggylakis of EuroHoops. “There’s something I’ve been saying for some time: It’s unfair to compare human beings with each other. And we are talking about players from different areas. But there are many similar things in the game that Dirk and Lauri play.”
“The only thing we don’t know is if Lauri has the same work ethic that Dirk has with the game,” he continued. “If Lauri has the same work ethic, and is healthy, he’ll definitely reach the same level that Dirk has. He has skills, speed, understanding for the game. It’s also natural.The new generation has to be better than the one of the past.”
The 20-year-old Markkanen was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves this June after a strong freshman season at Arizona and was promptly dealt to the Chicago Bulls as a centerpiece of the Jimmy Butler trade. He has been putting up huge numbers for Finland at EuroBasket this summer (which prompted Dettmann’s remarks), and while living up to the Dirk comparison will be a tall task, Markkanen is at least forcing us to learn the proper spelling of his name.
