Year in Review: 5 key moments that changed the Cavs in 2021

5 key moments that changed the Cavs in 2021 – 4. Starting Three Towers

One of the more questioned moves of the offseason was when the Cleveland Cavaliers swept in and executed a sign-and-trade for Chicago Bulls big man Lauri Markkanen, adding the 7-foot former lottery pick to a roster that was already spending gobs of money and draft capital on big men. How could they all fit?

The answer was presented suddenly on Opening Night, when head coach J.B. Bickerstaff shocked the league and Cavs fans by starting three 7-footers (we’ll round Allen up from 6’11”). With Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen starting at the 4 and the 5, Bickerstaff didn’t want a non-shooter on the floor in Isaac Okoro. Instead, he moved Okoro to the bench and started the sharpshooting Markkanen to help space the court.

The results have been excellent thus far. Defensively Markkanen is not fast enough to stay with most small forwards, but the Cavs have addressed that problem by having the three bigs all switch with each other, negating the speed of opposing forwards. On offense teams are afraid to leave Markkanen, opening up room inside for Darius Garland and one of the two bigs to run actions, or interior passing leading to wide open finishes.

The Cavs’ greatest weakness on their roster is a lack of wings, and playing Markkanen at the 3 mitigates that issue and finds more minutes for the team’s best players. Kevin Love and Markkanen can fill similar roles in the offense to give this team an excellent four-big rotation across three roster spots. If the team was only playing Markkanen at the 4 the lineup combinations would be more limited, and there would be fewer minutes there for a Love rebound season, or for Mobley to stretch his wings.

This lineup is weird, and it probably won’t work to win big in the playoffs, but right now it is absolutely working.