Lauri Markkanen as Cavs potential trade candidate would seem premature

Markkanen could maybe be a potential trade candidate, but that seems premature

It doesn’t seem as if the Cavs are necessarily poised to make a significant trade this offseason, given how the team had such a resurgent season this year, and when mostly healthy, were very successful defensively. And while Dammarell’s report mentioned Markkanen as a potential piece involved in a Grant trade, it doesn’t appear that Markkanen’s name has popped up a bunch in trade rumors.

But in terms of hypothetical deals, and given his shift to a new role with some inconsistencies this season, some have seemingly suggested Markkanen as part of a trade package for wings, at least among Cavs fans. Dammarell’s report, along those lines in his mailbag, spurred on the idea for Markkanen as a possible trade candidate for the Cavaliers this offseason, to that point.

I get that some might still be skeptical of Markkanen and the Cavaliers tall-ball lineup, with Markkanen at the de facto 3 alongside Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen for stretches, and to start games.

That group did factor into some of the Cavs success this season, though, and while there some minutes limitations due to injuries and some other absences for those guys, the collection of length of those three defensively, and with all of them moving pretty well, with Mobley especially, it was huge for Cleveland.

They had a defensive rating of 102.0 in 17.3 minutes per game as a trio, albeit in 36 games, as Kelsey Russo of The Athletic pointed out in a recent mailbag/report (subscription required), so it wasn’t a huge sample size yet. Even still, I thought the Cavaliers got fairly respectable play defensively from Markkanen, despite some on-ball limitations, and there’s still some uncertainty if he can be a full-time wing-type player next season/looking onward.