In celebration of NBA Dunk Week from a Cleveland Cavaliers’ perspective, I wanted to take a quick look back at Marquese Chriss’ poster jam against the Brooklyn Nets during last season.
The 2018-19 season was anything but a banner one for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they finished with a record of only 19-63 (per NBA.com), but there were still some bright spots.
Then-rookie Collin Sexton finished the season on a tear, leading the team in scoring post-All-Star break, as he had 20.8 points per game on 58.5% true shooting (per NBA.com), and gave fans plenty of reason to be optimistic looking forward.
Along with that, Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson had career years, and the team was at least decent in the short stretch when Kevin Love was playing a somewhat considerable minutes-share, as we’ve often referenced here at KJG.
A player that seemed to be an intriguing one a bit last year was big Marquese Chriss, who was reportedly a piece sent over as a part of a three-team trade for salary-matching purposes with Brandon Knight near the 2019 NBA trade deadline.
Early on, he showed some promise in a role where he was at least playing meaningful minutes, which was the case with the Cleveland Cavaliers knowing they were then in rebuilding mode.
In February (a nine-game sample size), Chriss averaged 8.3 points on 52.4% effective field goal shooting, along with 4.8 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game (again, according to NBA.com). In one of those games early on after he was traded to the Cavs, Chriss flashed inside-out talent and incredible athleticism.
In a back-and-forth triple-overtime loss to the Brooklyn Nets on February 13th, Chriss had 23 points on nine-of-16 shooting (including three-for-six from three-point range), along with seven rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes (per ESPN).
He also had likely the best highlight of his three-year career in the NBA in that one, and that’s my reason for flashing back to that game here.
Just take a quick glance back at this jam (courtesy of the Cleveland Cavaliers/Fox Sports Ohio), where Chriss clearly posterized Jarrett Allen.
MY GOODNESS, MARQUESE CHRISS. pic.twitter.com/G6eC12ZRYf
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) February 14, 2019
That was no small feat, as Allen has proven to be a really good shot blocker in his young career with the Nets, as he has a career average of 1.4 blocks per game and a block rate of 4.5% in two NBA seasons (per Basketball Reference).
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Unfortunately, Chriss didn’t prove to be much of a contributor outside of his initial Cavs’ stint, and is currently still an unrestricted free agent, likely because he’s provided too many head-scratching plays in his young career on both ends with the Phoenix Suns initially, then Houston Rockets and then the Cavaliers.
In that regard, I agree with KJG contributor Josh Friedman, who detailed at the time, why the Cavs should let Chriss walk, and they seemed to have at this point.
That being said, the 22-year-old Chriss is a really athletic 6-foot-10 big that get can get up and down the floor well, and will show flashes.
Maybe this sort of highlight will draw in some interest for him from teams looking for a reserve energy player.
Then again, maybe not, though.
Oh, and happy NBA Dunk Week, again, Cavs fans.
Go look up some of LeBron James‘ best dunks as a member of the Wine and Gold.
He was definitely in a predominantly black or navy uniform for some, though, for the record.