The Cleveland Cavaliers learned Monday ahead of their game against the Charlotte Hornets that backup center Kevin Love was out for an indeterminate amount of time due to health and safety protocols. The hammer came again, as around midday on Wednesday Lauri Markkanen joined Love on the list of unavailable players.
Losing Love was an inconvenience, resulting in a reshuffled (and tighter) rotation, but he was averaging just 9.9 points and 20.7 minutes per game. The loss of Markkanen is more acute, given that he is the team’s starting small forward, averaging 30.8 minutes per game and 12.9 points.
What do you need to know about Markkanen entering the health and safety protocols? Let’s get you up to speed.
Cavs’ Markkanen enters protocols – Was he vaccinated?
While to my knowledge there has not been a specific announcement by Markkanen or the Cavs on the sharpshooter’s vaccination status, we do know that he was vaccinated. NBA teams report their vaccination percentages to the league, and the Cavs are 100% vaccinated:
Cleveland has 100 percent vaccination among its players. Kevin Love is also in Health and Safety Protocols. https://t.co/FNIaNesjd5
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 3, 2021
This almost certainly means that Markkanen has tested positive for COVID, rather than being a close contact of someone who did, as fully vaccinated players aren’t subject to contact tracing as we experienced so much last season. Even fully vaccinated adults can contract COVID, but the symptoms and severity are significantly reduced in most “breakthrough” cases.
Markkanen and Love join a handful of other players currently in the protocols. The pandemic has had a significantly reduced impact on the league through two weeks compared to a season ago, but it is still an issue.
Markkanen is the latest NBA player to enter the league's health and safety protocols, joining a growing list that includes his teammate Kevin Love, Milwaukee's Khris Middleton and Philadelphia's Tobias Harris.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 3, 2021
More NBA from me: https://t.co/A6ycVmnrjq https://t.co/qCgL1U8Hio
Hopefully, Markkanen will be symptom-free and won’t have any longstanding issues from the disease when he returns. Speaking of:
Cavs’ Markkanen enters protocols – When will he return?
Last season, players testing positive for COVID or being deemed a close contact had to go through a long and arduous process that generally resulted in multiple weeks being missed. This time around there is a much faster way to get back on the court.
NBA players testing positive have two avenues toward a return to play -- waiting 10 days from testing positive or onset of symptoms, or passing consecutive negative PCR tests 24 hours apart. Finally, players who experienced symptoms must pass cardiac testing prior to a return.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 3, 2021
If Markkanen either had a false positive or is asymptomatic, he can pass consecutive negative tests and rejoin the team. That could theoretically happen in the next few days, meaning there is a very slight possibility he could be back for Friday’s game in Toronto. Given the travel necessities, however, that seems nearly impossible.
Much more likely is an absence of multiple games. The Cavs play Portland tonight, in Toronto on Friday night and in New York against the Knicks on Sunday. Then they have two nights off before hosting the Washington Wizards next Wednesday night.
If Markkanen stays symptom-free, it’s reasonable to hope he can be back by next Wednesday. If he does develop symptoms then he will likely be sick longer, which is a major bummer for him physically and emotionally, but he will also have a longer path back. If he is out 10 days, that would mean he misses at least five games, including the Detroit game on November 12th, but probably also their Saturday, Nov. 13th home game against the Boston Celtics.
Cavs’ Markkanen enters protocols – Who replaces him?
Coming into the season, most of us covering the Cavs expected Lauri Markkanen to come off the bench and for Isaac Okoro to maintain his starting spot at the 3. J.B. Bickerstaff pulled a fast one, moving Markkanen and his shooting into the starting lineup and playing Okoro almost exclusively at the backup 2.
Two things need to be replaced for the Cavs: his starting spot and his role. Okoro could replace him in the starting lineup, but he is still out nursing a hamstring injury. That leaves three primary options for Bickerstaff to consider.
The first is the easiest pick, Cedi Osman. He can shoot and replicate Markkanen’s role in that area as a reasonable facsimile, and especially against the Portland Trail Blazers tonight he should be able to hold his own against Norman Powell.
The second option is to stay big, inserting Dean Wade or Lamar Stevens into the starting lineup. Neither is anywhere near the shooter that Markkanen is, but Wade is a decent shooter and Stevens brings size and defense that will help in other areas. Unfortunately neither has played well to start the season.
The final option is the boldest, and probably the least likely. That is starting Dylan Windler at the 3. He has been on the outside looking in on Bickerstaff’s tight rotation since he returned from injury, but he is a plus-shooter with more size and rebounding ability than Osman, and it’s not like he can be much worse on defense.
Markkanen was shooting poorly to start the year, but teams feared the shot and guarded him accordingly. That will probably not be the case with any of the potential replacements. Markkanen was finally seeming to find his stride, so the timing here is bitter. It also means that Bickerstaff will have to go deeper into his bench, something he has been loath to do in the early going.
We all hope that Markkanen is symptom-free and able to return to the court soon. The same for Kevin Love. In the meantime, his absence means the Cavs’ depth will be tested. Can they weather the storm and keep their winning ways going without the Finnish Sniper? That question and many more will be answered in the games to come.