Arizona Wildcats basketball: On Romar's double duty, Finn fan favs, Lauri's big bucks
- Updated
Seen and heard at the Barclays Center during the 2017 NBA Draft.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The NBA draft green room tables couldn’t have been arranged better for Lorenzo Romar.
Arizona’s new associate head coach sat with his former star guard at Washington, Markelle Fultz, while the table next to him featured Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen, a player Romar also considers family at this point.
“I was invited by Markelle’s mother but we also knew Lauri was getting drafted and several others potentially from the U of A, so it was kind of dual purpose,” Romar said.
The former Washington coach never really had a chance to know Markkanen, arriving in Tucson in April just as Markkanen was leaving to train in Washington, D.C., but said that didn’t really matter.
“He’s a Wildcat,” Romar said. “I was coming and he’s a Wildcat.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Of course, while Markkanen’s draft night move from Minnesota to Chicago created some intrigue, it wasn’t like sitting with Fultz was terribly suspenseful.
He has been projected to be the first pick for months, and even more so when the Sixers traded for the pick.
But it still wasn’t, well, done.
“It wasn’t a surprise where he was selected but to actually see this happen and to see his name called and go through what so many others have gone through the years when they were selected No. 1, it was pretty special,” Romar said. “I was joking with him saying, ‘I know you understand what’s about to happen but when (NBA commissioner) Adam Silver says welcome, that’s when it really hits you.’
“It was pretty special.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
LaVar Ball and his basketball-playing sons weren’t the only famous athletic family attending the draft.
Markkanen sat at his green-room table with his father Pekka, a former player at Kansas who played professionally in Europe. Larui’s older brother, Eero, was also there.
The 25-year-old Eero has actually been the biggest star in the family back in Finland, a forward for the Swedish soccer club AIK and for the Finnish national team.
But Antti-Jussi Sipila, of Finnish broadcast network YLE Finland, said Lauri might now become the most popular Markkanen now that he’s become an NBA lottery pick.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
A full 90 minutes before the draft, a young fan crowded as close as possible to the side of the stage, where players were posing for their group pre-draft photo.
He held a sign that had nothing to do with any of them.
“LaVar Can’t Guard Me” the sign said.
But while LaVar Ball’s outspokenness has drawn that sort of response this spring, his son’s former teammate at UCLA, T.J. Leaf, said it’s really not a big deal.
“Lonzo’s a little bit more shy and reserved,” Leaf said. “Lonzo’s cool with it. We’re all cool with LaVar at UCLA. He just likes to go in the media and say things. Everybody laughs about it. That’s what LaVar does it for – getting people laughs. He does that. So Lonzo is fine with it and laughs about it.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
There were 60 spots in the NBA draft but a total of 63 college players opted to apply for it early, plus 10 international players who did not attend a U.S. college.
And then there’s, you know, seniors.
So a bunch of declarees didn’t get picked after declaring early, including UA’s Kobi Simmons and Chance Comanche.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
A Bronx native who played high school ball in Naples, Florida, Florida State’s Jonathan Isaac received a special bonus by staying in his adopted home state when the Magic took him at No. 6.
That is, he won’t have to pay state income tax on his $3.03 million rookie-year salary.
“I was thinking about that before but not tonight,” Isaac said, when asked about the Florida tax break. “So thank you for putting that back in my head. It feels great.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Pac-12 notched its first-ever pair of NBA draft picks to go 1-2, when Philadelphia made Fultz the No. 1 pick and the Lakers picked UCLA’s Lonzo Ball second.
But the rest of the draft night was a mixed bag for the conference.
Markkanen went No. 7 as largely expected, but Cal’s Ivan Rabb and UCLA’s Ike Anigbogu slipped out of the first round — after Rabb might have been a lottery pick had he left the Bears as a freshman last year.
The conference did get five players in the first round when UCLA’s T.J. Leaf went No. 18 and Colorado’s Derrick White was No. 29, but the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Dillon Brooks, turned out to be the ninth player taken from the league at No. 45.
The Pac-12 wound up tying its record 12 picks over two rounds when UA’s Kadeem Allen went 53 and Cal’s Jabari Bird went 56.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The state of Arizona will get Josh Jackson after all.
The Kansas forward was a heavy recruiting target of UA coach Sean Miller out of high school in Michigan and California, while Miller coached him with USA Basketball’s junior national team in 2015.
But while Jackson chose the Jayhawks over UA, the Suns chose Jackson at No. 4 in Thursday’s draft. That meant he’ll finally live in the desert as his mother once did while playing for UTEP.
“She has told me the importance of staying hydrated,” Jackson said, of what she passed on about living in a dry climate. “She tries to get me to drink a lot of water, more than I think I should, to be honest.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
$3.32 million: The salary Markkanen will likely be paid as a rookie for the Chicago Bulls next season. The figure is the maximum allowed for a No. 7 pick.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
“Arizona and Finland, they’re quite opposite, so I think I’m going to be good.” – Markkanen, on returning to a cold-weather climate after a year in Tucson.
The NBA draft green room tables couldn’t have been arranged better for Lorenzo Romar.
Arizona’s new associate head coach sat with his former star guard at Washington, Markelle Fultz, while the table next to him featured Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen, a player Romar also considers family at this point.
“I was invited by Markelle’s mother but we also knew Lauri was getting drafted and several others potentially from the U of A, so it was kind of dual purpose,” Romar said.
The former Washington coach never really had a chance to know Markkanen, arriving in Tucson in April just as Markkanen was leaving to train in Washington, D.C., but said that didn’t really matter.
“He’s a Wildcat,” Romar said. “I was coming and he’s a Wildcat.”
Of course, while Markkanen’s draft night move from Minnesota to Chicago created some intrigue, it wasn’t like sitting with Fultz was terribly suspenseful.
He has been projected to be the first pick for months, and even more so when the Sixers traded for the pick.
But it still wasn’t, well, done.
“It wasn’t a surprise where he was selected but to actually see this happen and to see his name called and go through what so many others have gone through the years when they were selected No. 1, it was pretty special,” Romar said. “I was joking with him saying, ‘I know you understand what’s about to happen but when (NBA commissioner) Adam Silver says welcome, that’s when it really hits you.’
“It was pretty special.”
LaVar Ball and his basketball-playing sons weren’t the only famous athletic family attending the draft.
Markkanen sat at his green-room table with his father Pekka, a former player at Kansas who played professionally in Europe. Larui’s older brother, Eero, was also there.
The 25-year-old Eero has actually been the biggest star in the family back in Finland, a forward for the Swedish soccer club AIK and for the Finnish national team.
But Antti-Jussi Sipila, of Finnish broadcast network YLE Finland, said Lauri might now become the most popular Markkanen now that he’s become an NBA lottery pick.
A full 90 minutes before the draft, a young fan crowded as close as possible to the side of the stage, where players were posing for their group pre-draft photo.
He held a sign that had nothing to do with any of them.
“LaVar Can’t Guard Me” the sign said.
But while LaVar Ball’s outspokenness has drawn that sort of response this spring, his son’s former teammate at UCLA, T.J. Leaf, said it’s really not a big deal.
“Lonzo’s a little bit more shy and reserved,” Leaf said. “Lonzo’s cool with it. We’re all cool with LaVar at UCLA. He just likes to go in the media and say things. Everybody laughs about it. That’s what LaVar does it for – getting people laughs. He does that. So Lonzo is fine with it and laughs about it.”
There were 60 spots in the NBA draft but a total of 63 college players opted to apply for it early, plus 10 international players who did not attend a U.S. college.
And then there’s, you know, seniors.
So a bunch of declarees didn’t get picked after declaring early, including UA’s Kobi Simmons and Chance Comanche.
A Bronx native who played high school ball in Naples, Florida, Florida State’s Jonathan Isaac received a special bonus by staying in his adopted home state when the Magic took him at No. 6.
That is, he won’t have to pay state income tax on his $3.03 million rookie-year salary.
“I was thinking about that before but not tonight,” Isaac said, when asked about the Florida tax break. “So thank you for putting that back in my head. It feels great.”
The Pac-12 notched its first-ever pair of NBA draft picks to go 1-2, when Philadelphia made Fultz the No. 1 pick and the Lakers picked UCLA’s Lonzo Ball second.
But the rest of the draft night was a mixed bag for the conference.
Markkanen went No. 7 as largely expected, but Cal’s Ivan Rabb and UCLA’s Ike Anigbogu slipped out of the first round — after Rabb might have been a lottery pick had he left the Bears as a freshman last year.
The conference did get five players in the first round when UCLA’s T.J. Leaf went No. 18 and Colorado’s Derrick White was No. 29, but the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Dillon Brooks, turned out to be the ninth player taken from the league at No. 45.
The Pac-12 wound up tying its record 12 picks over two rounds when UA’s Kadeem Allen went 53 and Cal’s Jabari Bird went 56.
The state of Arizona will get Josh Jackson after all.
The Kansas forward was a heavy recruiting target of UA coach Sean Miller out of high school in Michigan and California, while Miller coached him with USA Basketball’s junior national team in 2015.
But while Jackson chose the Jayhawks over UA, the Suns chose Jackson at No. 4 in Thursday’s draft. That meant he’ll finally live in the desert as his mother once did while playing for UTEP.
“She has told me the importance of staying hydrated,” Jackson said, of what she passed on about living in a dry climate. “She tries to get me to drink a lot of water, more than I think I should, to be honest.”
$3.32 million: The salary Markkanen will likely be paid as a rookie for the Chicago Bulls next season. The figure is the maximum allowed for a No. 7 pick.
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