What would a successful 2022-23 look like for Cavs’ Lauri Markkanen?

With the Cleveland Cavaliers looking to make a playoff push next season, expect Cleveland’s forward Lauri Markkanen to hit the ground running. Last season, Markkanen averaged 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per night, while also shooting 35.8% from distance on 6.2 attempts per night. Considering this was his first season often starting at small forward, I’d consider last season a success.

With next season almost upon us, we look upon last season to get a prediction on what the next season for Markkanen will maybe look like. Here are a few ideas on how a successful 2022-23 season will go for Markkanen.

Markkanen having a three-point shooting uptick would make a notable difference for the Cavs.

Like I mentioned earlier, Markkanen shot 35.8% from 3 last season on a good amount of attempts per game. According to StatMuse, the NBA average 3-point percentage last season was at 35.4%, so Markkanen was around average when you consider those stats. However, in Markkanen’s 2020-21 season, he shot 40.2% from deep on 5.8 attempts per night with the Chicago Bulls, where in that season, the league average was 36.7%.

Also, like I mentioned, Markkanen played a lot of minutes at small forward last season, a position he’s not really used to playing, so I’ll cut him some slack on not shooting the best percentage from deep. In this upcoming season, when he’s probably more adjusted to the small forward spot, he should shoot better from distance.

Secondly, look for Markkanen to mesh well with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley this go-round.

Last season, according to StatMuse, Markkanen had a +/- of +175 with Jarrett Allen over the whole season, and +157 with Evan Mobley. Anyway, this shows that Markkanen’s game meshes well with both Allen’s and Mobley’s, being a reliable floor spacer for both of the big men, who have not really shown to be knockdown shooters yet, and Allen potentially being so would seem to be a longshot. Although he is only 24, so we’ll see.

Chances are, the starting 5 will assuredly be along the lines of Darius Garland, Caris LeVert/Collin Sexton/Isaac Okoro, Lauri Markkanen, Mobley, and Allen. Markkanen brings much needed perimeter shooting to this lineup, as Mobley and Allen aren’t floor spacers, and Okoro isn’t a reliable shooter, either, if he starts.

Last but not least, if Markkanen does both of the above consistently, him having 14-plus points per outing would indicate he’s had a successful 2022-23.

Last season, Markkanen averaged 14.8 points per game, which is a nice number, given the role adjustment, and others involved. His scoring was 5th on the team, which is pretty good. I expect next season that he’ll be around the same number.

But, looking at all the capable scorers on the team, and the progression of players, there will be a lot of players looking to score. Caris LeVert, Collin Sexton (we’ll see what plays out there), Kevin Love, Darius Garland, Markkanen, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and others. All of those players can easily average over 12 points per game, so it will be interesting to see whose scoring numbers will dip.

All in all, I really think Markkanen will have a solid season in 2022-23, and should be a better all-around player than he was last season.