Who Is Miika Muurinen? Why the Celtics Might Gamble Pick No. 28 on a Finnish Big Man

Where Are the Celtics Actually Projected to Take Miika Muurinen?

One recent mock draft attached to Boston has the Celtics using their No. 28 pick in the 2027 NBA Draft on Miika Muurinen, a 19-year-old Finnish forward who's quickly become one of the more talked-about international prospects in his class. Before anyone runs with that as settled fact, it's worth being clear about what this actually is: a projection, not a decision. The Celtics haven't made any official statement about their draft plans nearly a full year out, and mock drafts at this stage function more as educated guesswork than roster strategy.

That said, the range on Muurinen tells its own story. ESPN's early 2027 board has him as high as No. 12 overall, while other outlets slot him anywhere from the late lottery to the middle of the first round. A No. 28 projection specifically tied to the Celtics is on the lower end of that spectrum which either means evaluators see him settling there, or it simply reflects how unsettled his stock still is more than a year before the draft.

What Kind of Player Is Miika Muurinen?

Muurinen is a 19-year-old forward from Järvenpää, Finland, born March 4, 2007. His listed height varies depending on the source some scouting profiles put him at a full 7 feet, while others peg him closer to 6-foot-10 or 6-foot-11 with a wingspan around 7-foot-3. Either way, the takeaway is the same: he's a genuinely big frame for a player whose game is built around mobility and skill rather than brute post play.

Scouts describe him as a forward/power forward with the kind of length-plus-mobility combination that modern NBA teams covet. He's shown flashes of shooting touch, passing feel out of the frontcourt, and rim-running ability traits that fit the mold of a stretch forward who could eventually space the floor rather than a traditional back-to-the-basket big. The flip side, and it's a real one, is that reports consistently flag limited physicality, inconsistent three-point shooting, and defensive lapses as areas he still needs to clean up.

Does His Time at Partizan and With Finland Actually Mean Something?

Muurinen isn't a total unknown coming out of nowhere he's already logged real professional and international minutes, which separates him from a typical incoming freshman. In September 2025, he signed a three-year deal with Partizan Belgrade, joining the club's EuroLeague and ABA League rosters as a highly touted young addition. In practice, though, that opportunity translated into limited playing time: he appeared in just 14 total games across both competitions before leaving the club in late February 2026 to pursue the NCAA route instead.

His national team résumé is arguably more meaningful. Muurinen has made 15 appearances for Finland's senior team, debuting in June 2024, and he had a genuine breakout moment at EuroBasket 2025, helping Finland reach the semifinals while averaging 6.6 points and 1.9 rebounds across eight games a performance that earned him the tournament's Rising Star award.

It's worth being careful not to overstate what that experience proves. Sparse minutes at Partizan mean scouts still have a limited professional sample size to evaluate, and strong showings at the international junior/senior level don't automatically translate into NBA readiness. What this history does confirm is that Muurinen has already been tested against grown, professional competition which is more than most 19-year-old draft prospects can say, even if the volume of that experience is still thin.

Why Arkansas Is the Real Test Before the 2027 Draft

Muurinen committed to Arkansas in April 2026 and officially signed with the Razorbacks in May 2026, joining what's been ranked as the No. 1 recruiting class in the country though as of summer 2026, he was still awaiting NCAA clearance after his professional stint in Serbia. Once he's cleared, his 2026–27 season in Fayetteville becomes the single most important stretch of tape teams will have on him before the 2027 draft.

This is the environment where the questions from his scouting report get answered in real time. Can he hold up physically against college competition on a nightly basis? Is his jump shot consistent enough to trust in a featured role, rather than an occasional flash? Does he defend at a level that projects to the NBA, or does he need a specific system to hide weaknesses? Arkansas gives him a full college season, likely a featured role given the program's investment in him, and a much larger sample size than his 14 games at Partizan ever provided.

For teams like the Celtics weighing where he lands on a draft board, this season functions almost like a stress test — the difference between a top-12 talent and a late-first-round project may come down entirely to how he performs against college-level physicality and pace over a full year.

Does Pick 28 Actually Make Sense for the Celtics?

Late in the first round is exactly where teams tend to bet on ceiling over floor, and Muurinen fits that pattern. A long, mobile forward with shooting touch and passing feel is the type of piece the modern NBA wants more of, and picking one at No. 28 rather than reaching for him in the lottery would let Boston take a calculated swing without overcommitting resources or immediate roster spot to an unfinished product.

The risk is just as real. His stock's wide range — anywhere from No. 12 to the late first round depending on the source — signals that evaluators genuinely disagree about how his skills will translate. Concerns about strength, defensive consistency, and turnover-prone play aren't minor footnotes; they're the exact issues that determine whether a long, skilled forward becomes a rotation piece or a draft-and-stash afterthought. And again: none of this is locked in. The Celtics have made no formal declaration, and Muurinen's entire draft positioning could shift significantly based on how his lone college season plays out.

In short, this is Boston betting on projection, not production — which is precisely what a No. 28 pick is designed for.

What to Watch Next

Once NCAA clearance is finalized and Muurinen steps onto the floor for Arkansas, every game becomes a data point that either tightens or scrambles his projection and by extension, whether a No. 28 Celtics pick still looks plausible a year from now.