The strongest summer job! Finland’s 18-year-old rising star is absolutely explosive; hopefully, he joins the NBA next year!

If you watched this year’s EuroBasket, you must remember this name vividly:Finland’s number 24 player, Miikka Muurinen.

Today, we’re going to talk about him individually.

The latest news is that Muurinen, Finland’s 15th-ranked player in the 2026 class, won’t be coming back to AZ Compass High School.

He hasn’t decided his next move yet and is considering professional opportunities in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere, with Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade being a likely next destination.

This means he will probably skip the NCAA and take his talent directly to the professional level.

At the earliest, he can enter the draft next year.

He is the top European prospect born in 2007 and was named the best newcomer at EuroBasket 2025.

Here’s a prediction: if Muurinen enters the draft, whether it’s a strong or weak class, he’s guaranteed a lottery pick and might even surpass his older brother Markkanen’s 7th overall spot.

What do NBA teams look for in the draft? Talent or immediate impact.

This guy is obviously a player with eye-popping talent.

He’s the kind of player who will leave you speechless watching him.

At this year’s EuroBasket, he was the youngest player in the tournament but repeatedly wowed with soaring dunks and alley-oop finishes, frequently featured in the top plays; his talent stands out not just in Europe but worldwide.

Because of this, Muurinen earned nicknames like "Little Markkanen" and "Slim Jesus."

But in reality, his playing style is quite different from Markkanen’s.

While Markkanen primarily scores through shooting, Muurinen’s strength lies in his physical abilities.

Muurinen was born into a basketball family.

His fatherKimo Muurinen was a Finnish legend who played 163 games for the national team, and his mother Jenni Laxonen was also a former Finnish women’s national team basketball player.

Naturally, he inherited outstanding athletic genes from his parents; standing 2.10 meters tall with a wingspan over 2.20 meters, this extraordinary reach gives him a huge defensive presence under the basket and an advantage finishing offensively.

Despite his height, his speed and agility are impressive, fearless on the court, and willing to attack the rim and battle physically.

The fearless energy of this young player left a deep impression on me.

Players like him are exactly what modern basketball needs.

In this tournament, Muurinen averaged 11.1 minutes per game, scoring 6.6 points and grabbing 1.9 rebounds with a shooting percentage of 60.6%, earning him the EuroBasket Best Newcomer award.

Previously, he had offers from prestigious college basketball programs like Duke, Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, and Michigan.

His future role model is Russia’s AK-47 (Andrei Kirilenko).

Although they didn’t play in the same era, both possess elite athleticism and excellent physical traits as European forwards; their skill sets are versatile, contributing significantly on both ends of the floor.

If Kirilenko were an active player in 2025, he would be even more coveted than before,As AK was a five-tool player excelling in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and blocks.

This is the developmental path Muurinen is aiming for.

His physical gifts could make him an NBA lottery pick, but at 18, his skills aren’t fully developed yet.

Currently, Muurinen’s strengths are dunking in fast breaks and some outside shooting.

In the upset win over Serbia, he scored 9 points, with two crucial shots in the final quarter that marked a turning point.

He doesn’t yet have mature ball-handling skills and still lacks experience on defense.

In short, he’s still a young player relying on natural athleticism, which explains why he was only a substitute in EuroBasket, averaging just 11 minutes per game.

However, you can’t expect too much from a high school player.

At 18, being able to do everything is rare—only Luka Dončić can pull that off.

Chinese fans call Wang Junjie the "strongest summer worker."

Don’t forget, Miikka Muurinen is two years younger than Wang Junjie, hasn’t even started college (and probably won’t), yet he’s already shining at EuroBasket.

Watch more high-level games, and you’ll realize this is a true star of the future!