Lauri Markkanen held up fairly well defensively for Cavs in 2021-22

Coming into the last campaign for the Cleveland Cavaliers, I’d say I had mixed thoughts about the Lauri Markkanen sign-and-trade acquisition from the Chicago Bulls.

Markkanen had his share of success with Chicago in his first four seasons, and he was a player that looked to be a shooting boost. He showed that in his time with the Bulls, and Markkanen displayed underrated transition feel, and I thought would provide a cutting presence in his minutes, mixed in with some pick-and-pops.

Markkanen did fine in a new situation offensively for Cleveland, albeit with a slow start. Him closing out the season more at the 4 spot did play some into it, but overall, I thought Markkanen showed what he can provide offensively enough as the year wore on, and ended out with 14.8 points per contest, and shot 35.8 percent from three.

He’ll need to show more consistency, ideally, looking onward to warrant the move from last offseason, and with him set to make $16.5 and $17.3 million the next two seasons. Still, he’s a valuable spacer, and he can put the ball on the floor at times to make plays for himself.

On the other end, though, it was tough to project how the Cavaliers would use Markkanen on defense. We saw in the earlygoing that the Cavs would end up going with an unconventional starting lineup, featuring three true bigs, most notably, with Markkanen filling in as a de facto 3 with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the frontcourt spots with him.

Markkanen, to that point, was a player that Cleveland wanted out there to provide a meaningful shooting boost, and with Mobley in tow, too, Kevin Love was moved to a bench role, as an aside. Regardless of the circumstances, it was again, a question mark as to what Cleveland could realistically get out of Markkanen on the defensive end.

The dude was not exactly an impact defender on the Bulls, painting it positively. That being said, with the Cavaliers in his first season with them, I thought he held up fairly well on that end, all things considered.

Markkanen held up probably better than one would’ve expected on defense for the Cavs in 2021-22.

To first get it out there, I am not suggesting Markkanen at the 3 in this tall-ball lineup is something that’s definitively the answer, looking onward, for Cleveland. Him in that spot isn’t likely how he individually is going to be maximized.

But I do have to say he was more competent defensively than I would’ve anticipated. Markkanen is not going to have the lateral quickness to be playing the game’s best on-ball threats at the 3 or 4, and that’s still apparent.

When Mobley and Allen were both healthy, though, I thought Markkanen did a decent job at least bothering opposing wings/small forwards, when matched up on them for stretches, and Cleveland did find some ways to get him on catch-and-shoot guys, too. In general, of course Mobley and Allen, when they were both healthy, helped to have in there for Markkanen, along with other players, and I fully recognize that element.

Still, I personally thought Markkanen did do alright against wings when needed by at least making guys work to hit some tough pull-ups or movement looks, and while he is clearly susceptible to getting beat on drives, his size can help him get back to contest.

I know there’s going to be times he’s conceding those looks to wings or quicker forwards, in fairness. But if Mobley and/or Allen are available to deter shots, with their verticality and timing, or Markkanen can funnel things to them somewhat, it could still lead to an effective shot contest.

When that trio had legit stretches together, we did see that regularly. And it’s notable that when they were on the floor, the trio had a 102.0 defensive rating in 17.3 minutes per game, as Kelsey Russo of The Athletic pointed out last month in a mailbag/report (subscription required). Russo did note it was only in in 36 games together for them; it was still evident that the tall-ball group was making an impact as shot alterers and to help prevent drives.

In any case, despite Markkanen at times being limited against better on-ball threats in defense on the perimeter, and he’s still going to have issues against more physical 4s and 5s, his efforts on defense were better than I would’ve projected. Also, his team defense did make some strides it seemed.

His defensive rebounding positioning does need to improve next season I believe (and the same applies with Mobley), but I don’t discount Markkanen having 1.5 deflections per game, per NBA.com’s hustle data. And him helping at times as a weak side rotator for contests was meaningful.

Moreover, we’ll have to see what plays out moving forward with Markkanen’s role. I could still foresee him being the starting de facto 3 option to begin next season, however, I can’t say he’s necessarily the clear long-term solution there. I also couldn’t blame the Cavs for at some point pulling the trigger on a trade for rumored potential targets such as Jerami Grant, Harrison Barnes or Gordon Hayward, among other wings.

I personally still would hope Markkanen isn’t included in those scenarios, though. Down the road, either way, if Markkanen’s ideal role is as Kevin Love’s long term replacement, regarding a bench shooting supersub, so be it.

But with his defense holding up fairly well in 2021-22, the tall-ball lineup should have more opportunities next season.