From my perspective, and I’d imagine many Cleveland Cavaliers fans’, it’s fair to say that Lauri Markkanen has had some peaks and valleys over the course of this season. That was often how it was for him in his first four seasons with the Chicago Bulls, too.
Markkanen has had to adjust to often playing in lineups with two true bigs on the floor together with him in his first year with the Cavaliers, and to some extent, he’s played as a de facto 3 for Cleveland.
With that in mind, it was apparent heading into the season after Markkanen was acquired via sign-and-trade that the team and fans had to be patient with him, and fortunately, the team and the coaching staff has been.
Now, to reiterate, there’s been ups and downs for Markkanen this season. On the year, he’s averaged 14.6 points and 5.7 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per contest, in what’s been 59 appearances, of which he’s started in all of them. His three-point shooting clip prior to Cleveland’s ugly loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday had been 34.8 percent, which was below his career average through nearly five seasons of 36.3 percent; his volume had been an identical one to his career average of 6.1.
Following that contest, his three-point hit rate on the season is now 35.3 percent on what’s been a volume of 6.2 per game. The Cavaliers loss to the Magic on Tuesday, regardless of injuries, was beyond disheartening, given the standings and them being banged up themselves. But Markkanen was outstanding in that one, as he had 25 points, canned six triples and was 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Fortunately for the Cavaliers and Markkanen, he’s appeared to put things together in recent weeks, similarly to Lamar Stevens, even with the team having inconsistencies overall. That’s been really good to see from Lauri.
The Cavs have had their share of struggles overall, but Markkanen has definitely been doing his part, and his close to the regular season has been strong.
Some of it may be with him being more of a focal point of late; either way, Markkanen has started to knock down perimeter looks, and to counter that, find his way to the free throw line, which has helped him get in-rhythm more throughout games. That’s been nice to see, and following an 11-game absence leading into the All-Star break due to an ankle sprain, after which it took a bit to get going again, he’s responded pretty well.
Given the nature of what’s played out over his five seasons thus far, some variance as a deep threat is going to be how things are with Markkanen.
Still, taking that into account, in his last 12 games prior to that loss at Orlando, Markkanen had had 15.7 points per game and had connected on 38.0 percent of his three-point attempts, and he’s made some crucial shots for the Cavaliers still. He gave the squad a spark in their close loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night, too, with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and hit 4-of-7 on three-point attempts.
Markkanen has found spots as a catch-and-shoot threat leading to wide open looks in set offense off ball-swings, and as a trailer in slow break situations, he’s found air space, and has been firing with more confidence than pre-All-Star break, in my opinion.
And regardless of when Evan Mobley and seemingly Jarrett Allen make their returns from injury, well at least Mobley, I do believe Markkanen can still find ways to get those looks, with the urgency he’s been playing with and activity as a key off-ball threat. Lauri’s chemistry with those two guys has gotten better as the season has worn on, so I’m confident his better play in recent weeks can hold firm, and upon Mobley’s return, at minimum.
In the Cavs’ last two games, that could very well play out, and in seemingly play-in game/games, with what Markkanen has been showing for the past month or so, I do definitely believe he can knock down perimeter looks. He’s in a nice rhythm for Cleveland, and Mobley and maybe Allen are back, I’ll never count the Cavaliers out.
Plus, as we alluded to, even when Markkanen is not hitting from deep, he has found ways to generate free throw attempts throughout games more often post-All-Star. In that aforementioned 12-game span for him before the Magic game, he had 3.5 free throws per outing, and had hit 3.0 per game, an 85.7 percent clip.
Granted, if and when both Mobley and Allen are back, both for at least play-in/potential games, that could decrease a bit game-to-game for Lauri, in terms of free throw attempts, and possibly come postseason play. But I do still believe with what he’s shown recently, and with the assertiveness he’s shown post-All-Star break, Markkanen’s strong play can continue, and I don’t discount his team defense and often multiple-effort plays of late, either, even with fouls.
Moreover, at least to me, it seems as if Markkanen is putting it together lately, and he’s definitely been doing his part, despite the clubs’ inconsistencies.