Regrading the Cavs’ sign and trade for Lauri Markkanen

Last summer the Cleveland Cavaliers were committed to stocking the frontcourt with young talent, and adding veteran help to a backcourt that had some young, high-end scoring talent already in place. The Cavs re-signed Jarrett Allen, drafted Evan Mobley and traded for Ricky Rubio. They looked to be mostly done at that point.

Then out of nowhere the Cavs made another move weeks into free agency, trading veteran big Larry Nance Jr. in a sign-and-trade for Lauri Markkanen, a restricted free agent formerly with the Chicago Bulls. The 7′ marksman was no longer in Chicago’s plans and found a new home in Cleveland.

Last summer the Cavs made a surprise move to add Lauri Markkanen in a sign-and-trade. One season later, what happens when we regrade the deal?

A season has gone by, which grants much-needed perspective to the move. How does it look nine months later? Has the information gleaned from the past season of games changed the opinions we had at the time of the deal? Looking back and evaluating past decisions is a key part of improving one’s process moving forward.

Markkanen initially signed a four-year, $67 million contract as part of the sign-and-trade, so barring a trade out of Cleveland he is not going anywhere. How should the Cavs feel about the assets given up last August, and about his fit on both the roster and on the books moving forward? Let’s re-grade the deal.