Cavs: 3 reasons why the Lauri Markkanen deal was a good idea
By Amadou Sow
Reason 1: Trade gives the team a look at a young player without huge expense
As stated, the deal for Markkanen is a 4-year, 67 million dollar deal that is estimated to gradually rise each year. A nice tidbit reported by Chris Fedor is that the last year of the deal is just 6 million dollars guaranteed, giving the Cavs a better chance at an early out if things don’t go right.
Lauri Markkanen's four-year deal worth $67.4 million is only guaranteed for $6 of the $18 million in the final year, sources tell @clevelanddotcom
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) August 27, 2021
As stated earlier, Markkanen’s play has plateaued but his second-year statistics show that he could be a huge positive for this team. During his second season, Lauri put up 18.7 points and 9 rebounds per game, shooting 36.1% from three on 6.4 attempts per game. During this season, his confidence looked the best and a late-season start due to injuries didn’t seem to slow him down.
It was also during that 2018-19 season where he had an amazing 11-game stretch from February 2nd to March 1st, averaging 26.5 points and 12.6 rebounds per game, shooting 48.7% from the field and 36% from three. The Bulls would also go 6-5 during that stretch.
The potential is there and it will be up to the Cavaliers to tap into it once again. Putting him in the best position to succeed is critical and he seems to perform best as a starter. Last year’s starter-bench stats may be an anomaly due to the Nikola Vucevic trade but it may be best for the Cavaliers to ease Mobley into the NBA off the bench, playing him alongside both Allen and Markkanen.
Looking at what Lauri can provide offensively is a key reason why this trade was a smart one.