Lauri Markkanen - Utahin Marsalkka: All-NBA Snub

[CavsKermit]

I'll say this, if another team views Lauri as an asset on his deal and is willing to give value, the Cavs should be open to listening to the offer.

 

[Futuredome]

I have lost respect for the Finnish people. Thanks "Larry".

 

[cavsfever]

I'll say this, if another team views Lauri as an asset on his deal and is willing to give value, the Cavs should be open to listening to the offer.

I don’t really see other teams wanting to eat his four year $67 million contract unless he shoots more than 30% from 3…

 

[Jontibs]

It is the new nickname, like the Dragon Reborn in the Amazon atrocity he has been depowered.

 

[Sebastian]

Stop thinking about Uhro Kekkonen!

 

[Tomocolo]

is his issue due to figuring things out with EM and Allen? as mobley gravity grows he will have more room on perimeter too. more gravity on DG pnr could lead to more drive and kicks too. I think its all ready for LM to explode from 3.

 

[shoes22]

is his issue due to figuring things out with EM and Allen? as mobley gravity grows he will have more room on perimeter too. more gravity on DG pnr could lead to more drive and kicks too. I think its all ready for LM to explode from 3.

But he was really clicking earlier in the season with Mobley and Allen...no idea what happened but his shot looks completely broken now on a mechanical level.

 

[bigdog123]

He's taking too many bad three point shots... too deep... leaning back, etc. Missing those hurts the confidence needed for the shots he should be taking.

 

[Cavatt]

I get the feeling his brain is too slow. Like he got that half court shot but didn't realize time was expiring. A lot of what he does is like that

 

[PIP]

Guy was simply everywhere last night

 

[FrontPageNews]

I’ve never seen a big have the ball bounce off their hands and miss rebounds more than him.

 

[PIP]

Let’s also not forget what he did to Poland

 

[Heat Check]

But he was really clicking earlier in the season with Mobley and Allen...no idea what happened but his shot looks completely broken now on a mechanical level.

We had much more ball movement early on - even among the 7 footers of the starting lineup. The new, improved Garland-Allen connection hadn't been established yet, so the half court offense was more unpredictable. There was more hi-lo stuff, occasionally even pick and rolls where both the screener and the ballhandler were bigs.

At some point, Garland and Allen started finding success with their two-man game in the middle of the floor, necessitating spacing. That pushed Markkanen into a kind of static PF role where he parks himsef in the corner and isn't involved much. He only comes out for handoffs and screens.

As our ball movement has withered, the Cavs half court offense has started to lean on just two things: Garland-dominated pick and rolls and slow post-ups. Lauri isn't involved in the PnR's and he's not a good low post player (and that's putting it kindly). To me it seems like he doesn't really know where he should be half the time.

As for his outside shot... who knows when it'll come back. Or if. Obviously it's totally broken. You always hear that if your 3pt shot is not dropping, you should make yourself useful in other ways. Problem is, there isn't that much space for Markkanen to do that in this offense since his role is so narrow these days. He tries to fight for rebounds, dribbles around for no reason (we're not sending any ball screens his way) and keeps doing his little cuts (almost always ingnored).

As usual, finding his shot is critical. That opens up other opportunities. I'm just not seeing any improvement, which is concerning. He does seem to have the yips, and frustration probably makes it all worse.

 

[WorldFreeB]

He's shooting .305 from 3 this year. I did see someone mention in the GT last night and I've thought the same that
he's having the same year that Osman had last year. Way down shooting the 3 off career averages.
Hopefully he regains that shot because if he doesn't he's a negative value with the contract he has.
He seems to be just lumbering around and slow movement wise. Did chasing small forwards around
the first third of the season run him down and now his legs are somewhat shot?

 

[Medina smoke]

Love needs to help him find his arch!