Lauri Markkanen’s value for Cavs offense will shine through in 2022-23

It took Lauri Markkanen a good bit to get himself going with the Cleveland Cavaliers following his sign-and-trade acquisition from the Chicago Bulls last offseason.

Markkanen was going to have an adjustment period needed either way, and he was playing in a newer role with Cleveland. Markkanen was playing as Cleveland’s de facto 3, at least offensively, and he was getting used to playing true stretches alongside two other bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

It was apparent that Markkanen’s numbers could take some time to be there nearly of that in his earlier Chicago days, and despite a few very encouraging outings early prior to COVID-19 health and safety protocols absences, he had inconsistencies.

Markkanen has been a guy who has had his ups and downs through five seasons, in fairness, but after the COVID-19-related absences, there were positive stretches of games for him. Now, there were still some clunkers, though he seemed to be settling in more, and his defense was far better last season, often defending opposing wings, than one would’ve anticipated.

Markkanen unfortunately would miss the last 11 games prior to the All-Star break, which was crushing at the time and for him. Even still, he came back and was one of the bright spots in a tough time for the Cavaliers post-All-Star break, as they stumbled then and didn’t ultimately make the postseason after losing two play-in outings.

Generally speaking, however, this upcoming season, to me, we should see Markkanen’s true impact on offense far more, and it’ll make the group more cohesive with his shooting capabilities, and underrated transition play.

Markkanen’s value for the Cavs offense will shine through in 2022-23.

Markkanen had some great moments last season for the Cavaliers last season, and appeared to be much more comfortable in his role prior to his ankle ailment in late January. That was very promising for what’s to come, and while he was more so at the 4 post-All-Star with Allen’s fractured finger leading to him missing most of the closing stretch, Markkanen still was in a better shooting rhythm before that.

Overall, his production was down a bit from his Chicago days last season, in which he had 14.8 points per outing, and connected on 35.8 percent from three-point range for the year. With the Bulls, his averages over four years were 15.6 points per outing, and he hit 36.6 percent of his three-point attempts.

Markkanen was in a new situation and it was going to take time for him to find his footing with the role adjustment, and in his second go-round after the past season, his value should shine through for Cleveland’s offense.

The shooting had some ups and downs, but he got better playing off other guys, and Darius Garland, as the year progressed, and I’d imagine he’ll start off well in 2022-23. Markkanen had 16.1 points per outing in his last 32 regular season appearances last season, and connected on 40.3 percent of his three-point attempts then, of which were 6.4 per game.

This season, I’d expect to see him in a better rhythm with him more acclimated this go-round, and perhaps we’ll see some more movement looks for him here and there, and just overall, some more in-rhythm looks throughout games.

And after all, among other guys, such as Garland and Kevin Love, Markkanen’s way deep shooting was still on display last season, and in that realm, this was an impressive stat, as h/t BasketballNews.com and per PBP Stats. This was regarding threes taken 27-plus feet out at volume.

Needless to say, next season, with he and the team more familiar with how to best utilize him, mixed in some secondary transition situations and cuts after off-ball screens, we should really see Markkanen’s offense leveled up in 2022-23.

Hopefully for Cleveland to have better cohesion for elongated stretches, the tall-ball lineup guys can be mostly healthy.