RealGM

Watching Serbia- Finland right now in Eurobasket, is it just me or this kid doesn't get enough attention? he looks like a real athletic freak with tons of potential. 6'9" with long arms, really bouncy, super competitive, can handle the ball. Very high upside. Only 18 years old. First time I'm watching him in live game and he reminds me of a more athletic-more competitive version of Andrei Kirilenko at his age.

I think comparing to Kirilenko is always dangerous, he was an incredible athlete with insane measurables. I think Mikka has some attention, but I bet a lot of places have him in the 2027 draft. I think Cammo (mock draft forum) has had him lottery for a few months. I am interested in what I have seen so far, but have not seen enough to feel really strongly about him yet.

Hypothetically, Miikka is going to be eligible for the very next NBA draft, the 2026 NBA draft following next season.

Does anyone know why the projection is for 2027?

Caneman786 wrote:Hypothetically, Miikka is going to be eligible for the very next NBA draft, the 2026 NBA draft following next season.

Does anyone know why the projection is for 2027?

I think everyone is guessing which college freshman are going to choose to stay for NIL by which guys are more raw. Muurinen looks like he needs quite a bit of physical development compared to some of the guys up top, so I could see - if he is not an absolute standout - him deciding to bank the NIL and going into the 2027 draft where he has a chance to go quite a bit higher considering the perceived (as of this moment) steep dropoff in talent. If you told me he went #1 in 2027 I would not find it shocking as of this moment (we will see when he actually hits college).