Cavs: 3 reasons why Lauri Markkanen can have a resurgent season

Lauri Markkanen may have found his new home in the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 24-year-old, 7-foot tall player originally from Finland shared some of those thoughts at his recent press conference, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, and it’s clear Markkanen is excited about this new opportunity.

There are many reasons to be excited as Cavs fans with Markkanen coming to the Cavs this next season. He’s young, like most of the Cavaliers team, he’s an offensive juggernaut, having the talent to knock down three-pointers from the outside and now he’s potentially a starter for the team and if not he’ll be that 6th man that can change the outcome of games because the Cavs will have the advantage.

To that point, let’s drive down the lane and look a little more at the reasons Markkanen should have all Cavaliers fans excited about the future.

3’s the way

Markkanen loves the three-point shot and for a big to love the shot and be able to deliver consistently is impressive. I know we’re talking about the NBA and this isn’t middle school basketball, like I’ve coached over the years, but having visions of my post players launching halfcourt shots in between drills isn’t a good memory.

Bigs like Markkanen aren’t supposed to be shooters, at first glance. So the fact that he’s one of the best in the league there is a big deal.

In his career he’s averaged little over six three-pointers a game. If this were middle school, he’d be running laps because I’d told him not to shoot outside of the lane. But what do I know?

His 40 percent average last season was noteworthy as well.

Now playing for the Cavs, the chances that Markkanen’s average goes up and the number of threes he’s shooting continues to rise all seem realistic. The Cavaliers are in dire straights to find shooters. With a focus on the post players like other Cleveland giants Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen playing down low in the point, Markkanen will be able to settle in around the three-point arc, regardless of it’s when spelling one of those two or even as a jumbo player there in spurts.

If Kevin Love stays in Cleveland for another season, which seems likely at the moment, then the Cavs would have two potential players coming off the bench, spreading the floor out and taking advantage of their opponents weaknesses off the bench.

A young Cavs team

Markkanen is coming over to the Cavs as another young player to add to the list of many other core Cavs like Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. Being able to develop a chemistry with this new group of players will only give Markkanen a new sense of importance he has and to deliver for the team.

His former team, the Chicago Bulls have never seemed to have a real good plan in place. They’ve had a mixed bag of players from young to old veterans and they’ve never been very good since their best player Michael Jordan left a century ago; they did have a notable offseason, however, and adding players such as Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan shouldn’t be discounted.

In any case, with Cleveland, Markkanen will get to shoot and will have the ultimate green light, and he’ll get to create new bonds with players like him that are at the core of the Cavaliers becoming more successful in the near future.

The pitfalls of being a young player and playing for a young team is that there will be many days and many games where that inexperience of winning catches up with players. But on the upside, as you learn together and struggle together, then the reward of actually winning after that is much more rewarding.

A new beginning with the Cavs

It’s hard to go through change. I recently moved from one job to the next after having been at that job over over two decades. The challenges that you’re faced when you start up somewhere new can be overwhelming.

But when you’re 24 years old that change might not seem so challenging. And Markkanen seems very excited about his new team, coaches and teammates, as the aforementioned Fedor detailed.

Beginnings are scary but exciting. Having gained valuable lessons while playing in Chicago, Markkanen can now put those lessons to work in Cleveland with this young and inexperienced nucleus of a team.

I also wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he takes more of a leadership role on the team. The Cavs have been soul searching for that type of leader.