A much more well known player than his teammate Kravtsov, Markoishvili was one of the youngest players ever to see playing time in the Euroleague at the age of 16 with Benetton Treviso. He had an excellent season last year with Olimpija Ljubljana, and since then moved to Kyiv where hes having a very good year so far. In fact, hes one of the most productive players in his age group in Europe, which should be duly noted.
Markoishvili is a good athlete by European standards, although probably only average as far as NBA wing players are concerned. Hes a very complete all-around player, able to put the ball on the floor fairly well against unset defenses, knock down 3-pointers with a high arcing release, and play solid defense thanks to his desire and hustle, as well as his solid quickness and strength. Hes a very hard working player both on and off the court, with an excellent attitude towards the game.
Not the most fluid player in the world, Markoishvili is a bit predictable at times with his moves, and also isnt always the greatest decision maker. He struggles to create his own shot in tight half-court sets, needing to improve his left-hand in particular. His jumper has been getting more and more consistent from year to year, but is still streaky in the sense that he can go 5/5 one game from behind the arc and then 0/5 the next time. That might have to do with the fact that he puts so much air underneath the ball when he shoots it, that he sometimes comes up very short.
Defensively, Markoishvili puts in great effort, but does not appear to be the most fundamental player in the world. This might be surprising considering that he played for two of the best developmental teams in Europe at a young age (Benetton and Olimpja), but his footwork is just average and sometimes plays too hard for his own good.
Markoishvili clearly has a great future at the European level, where he will surely be able to play for almost any team by the team he hits his peak, but its questionable how much upside he still has for the NBA. People have been speculating for years that hes older than what hes actually listed at, possibly having been born in 1983 rather than 1985. According to the stereotype, its considered somewhat common for athletes from the Republic of Georgia to have their age doctored, not just in basketball but also in wrestling and other sports. Zaza Pachulias stock dropped considerably in the draft for this reason exactly, and not many people still believe that Nikoloz Tskitishvili was actually 19 when the Denver Nuggets fatally drafted 5th overall. The people at Kyiv probably dont care about all that, but NBA executives might. Still, if a team is looking to take a flyer on a Europe player they can stash overseas in the second round, Manu as they call him here probably wouldnt make them look bad with the way his career develops, although no one should expect him to really become the next Manu.
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