Cleveland Cavaliers: 2 goals for Lauri Markkanen in 2021-22

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen via sign-and-trade last week from the Chicago Bulls, in what was a deal that included the Portland Trail Blazers as well. The deal did include Cleveland trading Larry Nance Jr. to Portland, to go with a protected second-round pick via the Denver Nuggets, and Portland dealt Derrick Jones Jr. and a protected first-rounder to Chicago.

The Cavaliers signed Markkanen via four-year, $67 million deal, although the last year reportedly is guaranteed for only $6 million of $18 million guaranteed.

It was tough for Cleveland to have shipped out Larry Nance Jr., who was arguably the club’s best defensive piece, particularly in the team sense, and he affects games in a variety of ways.

But Markkanen is 24, whereas is 28, and while Markkanen has had injury issues too, Cleveland being able to acquire a valuable perimeter shooting presence in him via sign-and-trade should aid the club. So I did get what Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman and company were going for here.

Markkanen again has had injury problems with the Bulls, and last year, missed a stretch of games because of a right shoulder sprain last season, and unfortunately was out for seven outings from COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Last year, he closed out in a bench role as well, with the trade arrival of Nikola Vucevic and then Chicago going with then-trade acquisition Daniel Theis in the starting lineup quickly after that Vucevic deal.

Markkanen did have some inconsistencies and struggles in recent seasons with the Bulls, as he alluded to in an interview with K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, but he did thank the Bulls and their fan base in the interview and is pumped for this next step with the Cavaliers.

So along those lines, what would a successful next season be for Markkanen from a personal standpoint, then?

We’ll touch on two goals for him for the Cavs here.

We’ll get into those now.