Lauri Markkanen has had his ups and downs this season in his first one with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The situation has been an adjustment in playing often with two other bigs around him in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, though, and that’s evident, compared to regularly in his first four seasons with the Chicago Bulls.
On the season, Markkanen’s had 13.7 points per game, and connected on a career-low 33.5 percent from three-point land.
But as we expressed, Markkanen has had an adjustment this season, and one had to know that there would be inconsistencies for him this season. He was realistically inconsistent, to some degree, in his Bulls career too, and injuries had some to do with that.
And in a stretch from Dec. 13-Jan. 4, Markkanen had really been in a slump, in that realm, as in that span of 10 games, he connected on just 18.8 percent from three, and had only 11.7 points per outing. It was frustrating to see him at times miss wide open looks off-the-catch, and even some looks he’s more than capable of hitting on pull-ups.
Fortunately, as he has demonstrated still in a few stretches this season, and particularly after a health and safety protocols absence, he has seemed to get himself going again.
In Markkanen’s last seven contests prior to Wednesday, he was at least been more efficient in averaging 13.3 points, and had some success on cuts, in transition and inside from early seals or from cross-matching. Plus, in that stretch, he connected on 42.1 percent from three.
Markkanen getting himself more in-rhythm was a bit lost it seemed in Cleveland’s five-game winning streak leading into a loss at the Bulls, as opposed to Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen’s play.
Conversely, in a disappointing game for the team overall, thanks to rough turnovers, defensive lapses and DeMar DeRozan dominating on Wednesday, Markkanen was a clear bright spot versus his old squad, and he’s been playing well lately. It’s been good to see him work out of a really rough slump from last month leading into early January.
Markkanen was the bright spot for the Cavs in that L to the Bulls, and hopefully, he can establish more consistency the rest of the way.
One has to give Chicago their credit, as DeRozan had 30 points for them, and even without Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball, the Bulls handled the Cavs in some crucial stretches.
Cleveland did come back and at one point in the fourth quarter cut it to two, but Chicago regained control from making plays defensively, and ball movement from DeRozan, Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso and others led to the Cavs conceding far too many wide open looks.
For the game, Chicago shot 54.7 percent and 45.5 percent from three, and regardless of the Cavaliers having their eighth game in 13 nights, the Bulls, who have had their share of injuries recently, took it to Cleveland, and snapped their four-game skid. I do have to give Markkanen his props for his performance against his former team, though.
Markkanen was the bright spot for the Cavs in that one, and he was getting it done in a variety of ways
The 7-footer was again the true bright spot in an otherwise forgettable performance for the Cavs; granted, Evan Mobley played very well in the first half, and Darius Garland came on again in the second half en route to a 20-point, 12-assist outing. As a side note, he reportedly suffered a stinger in-game; he came back in, even still.
And Kevin Love did chip in too, circling back, with 13 points and four assists, and the group did have 27 assists in the game, so I can’t say it was all awful offensively.
But some untimely turnovers just seemingly took the wind out of the Cavaliers’ sails as a team in crucial stretches, however, and the defense was a step slow all night. Of course, the team not having Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio still is a constant crutch, and Lamar Stevens being inactive didn’t help.
Nonetheless, as we stressed earlier, Markkanen’s performance was the key positive takeaway from this one, as he had a season-high 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting, and 5-of-9 from three. He was on fire as a catch-and-shoot guy, and this sort of contest shows why the Cavaliers went out and got Markkanen via sign-and-trade this past offseason.
He was also able to get to the free throw line six times, where he hit five of those. When Markkanen is making plays as a finisher in the open floor, and in set offense, using his size to get to easy hooks, or shooting over guys via one-dribble pull-ups, it also can get him going, and usually the team in general.
This could be a game that can potentially propel him onward as well.
Markkanen’s inconsistencies have been frustrating, but he’s played far better of late
Now, I’m well aware of the cold spells from him, and it’s disheartening at times; the overall three-point shooting clip for the season is not what he’s capable of, either, and Markkanen, even with a role change mid-season, did hit a career-best 40.2 percent from there last year for Chicago.
That said, Markkanen has again played well lately for Cleveland, and perhaps at this point in the season, as we’re past the halfway point, the 24-year-old can establish more consistency from here.
It’s apparent that Markkanen is one of Cleveland’s most skilled and most versatile offensive players, and while it wasn’t so on Wednesday as much, it’s clear that Lauri’s play can ignite the whole team.
And for what it’s worth, he’s far more than a spot-up guy, as we’ve seen, as he’s more than capable of knocking down looks off movement, and creating some for himself in transition and set offense with his touch and feel for reading gaps. I also don’t discount Markkanen’s team defense, even with some on-ball deficiencies.
Anyway, hopefully this performance against his former team, and his recent play in these past eight games, can be something Markkanen builds more as a launch pad for the rest of the way.
Some potential trade suggestions involving him to me seem very ill-advised, too.