Lauri has been garnering attention for years.
A Spanish professional team offered him a contract when he was 16 years old, but the Markkanens didn't want him leaving home that early and didn't think he needed the money at such a young age. The offer was a seven-year deal, which would've locked him up well into his 20s.
Lauri avoided becoming a draft-and-stash NBA pick, which looks smart now. Otherwise, he could be playing in Europe with his rights held indefinitely by an NBA team.
Lauri instead attended the Helsinki Basketball Academy for high school. His coach was Hanno Möttölä, who played for Utah in the late-1990s and was part of the Utes team that upset defending national champion Arizona in the 1998 NCAA Elite Eight.
— Bruce Pascoe
