Cleveland Cavaliers are rolling the dice on Lauri Markkanen

Just when you thought the 2021 NBA offseason was wrapped up, the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled the trigger on a move to send Larry Nance Jr. to the Portland Trail Blazers while acquiring Lauri Markkanen from the Chicago Bulls in a three-team swap.

It is a bitter-sweet feeling to watch Nance, a homegrown talent and fan favorite, be shipped out of the city. He really came into his role in Cleveland as a versatile forward who can create plays for others and defend multiple positions. Yet, his days were numbered the moment Evan Mobley was drafted.

After years of being too small due to playing two undersized guards together — the Cavaliers were now suddenly too big with the likes of Nance, Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love all looking to share minutes in the frontcourt. While depth is always appreciated, it is no wonder Nance emerged as the number one trade asset. In addition to having an easily tradeable contract, Nance was also the odd-man-out when it comes to the young core. At 28 years of age, the Cavs understandably looked to flip Nance for immediate help in other areas of weakness.

One glaring problem was a lack of shooting. The Cavs have been one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league since 2018 and little has been done to address this issue. That is why, despite playing the same position as Nance (thus compounding the crowding of too many frontcourt players), Markkanen became the Cavaliers’ target as his 3-point prowess made him valuable to a team suffering from a lack of spacing.

This move understandably confused and angered many fans. Why did we trade arguably our best defender for a player who is clearly a downgrade in every facet besides shooting? If we were going to trade Nance, why not pursue a player on the wing — which is an area in desperate need of help compared to Cleveland’s loaded frontcourt.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have made the bold decision to roll the dice and hope Lauri Markkanen turns out to be a smart gamble.

The reality is, Cleveland needed to do something this summer. In particular, Koby Altman had to shake things up as he enters year four of a glacier-paced rebuild. Though the process of restructuring an NBA team takes time — the pressure is mounting and Altman needed to do something to potentially get himself off the hot-seat.

As talented as the Cavaliers’ roster is heading into the season, their lack of offense was always going to limit their potential. This is not something that is up for debate. With Collin Sexton and Darius Garland being two of the only consistent scorers on the team — it was clear the Cavs would need a booster shot of offensive production in order to actually compete for a play-in spot.

This is what Markkanen brings to the table. The 23-year-old is a career 15.6 points per game scorer who recently shot a personal-best 40.2 percent from the 3-point line last year. He is limited in just about every other aspect of the game but his ability to space the floor is undisputed. If there is one thing Markkanen can be counted on to do, it is put pressure on the defense to check him behind the arch.

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To reiterate, spacing is precisely what Cleveland has been lacking. Very few teams (if any) had worse spacing than the Cavaliers last season. This problem wasn’t going to be solved by the addition of another seven-footer in Mobley who is still an extremely raw prospect. No, something had to change and Markkanen, with all his flaws, addresses their biggest need.

Now, many have been quick to criticize this move due to Markkanen’s position. This deal may have buffed their scoring but it didn’t solve their weakness on the wing. Seeing as how Nance was their best trade-chip, it feels the Cavaliers just punted their best chance at adding another perimeter threat.

To this, I agree. It would have been better for Cleveland to acquire a name such as Joe Ingles to provide their wing rotation with more depth and shooting.

However, let us give Koby Altman a little benefit of the doubt, for once. He has essentially done right on a majority of his moves as GM. He has drafted the best players available almost without fault and acquired the likes of Jarrett Allen and Ricky Rubio in fantastic trades. It is somewhat safe to assume that if a deal for a talented wing was out there — Koby would have taken it as opposed to this.

The only glaring issue that still plagues this trade is the Kevin Love predicament. One would have assumed the decision to trade for Markkanen (a player with a similar skillset to Love) meant the franchise was finally moving forward with a trade or buyout of Love. That is not the case, with Love reportedly uninterested in losing the final $60 million of his contract.

So, the Cavaliers will enter the season with four frontcourt players who are all expected to play a chunk of minutes each night. This truly isn’t too much of a bother as the group can be staggered fairly easily. Plus, it allows them to take a cautious approach to ease Mobley into the fray.

Considering the Cavaliers have committed to four years of Markkanen, it can be said they are rolling the dice on a bit of development occurring. No one will say Markkanen is currently a better player than Nance but we can agree he has more potential strictly due to his age. In this case, even if Lauri becomes a marginally improved defender, rebounder or playmaker, then the move to trade Nance and take a shot at raising this team’s ceiling was a necessary one — for Altman, and the future of the franchise.

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