Lauri Markkanen - Utahin Marsalkka: All-NBA Snub

[Lee]

Um, we have a superstar to watch.

This thread will fall by the wayside soon enough.

We arent mad we got Mitchell, we realize Lauri was part of the price, but allot of us think that Marki is about to take another leap as a player and enjoy keeping track of him. I wish Lauri nothing but good things.

 

[Tlyons]

We arent mad we got Mitchell, we realize Lauri was part of the price, but allot of us think that Marki is about to take another leap as a player and enjoy keeping track of him. I wish Lauri nothing but good things.

I wish him the best as well. I just don't think he was taking any leaps on this team as it was constructed then or now, which is why he's on another team again. Ultimately his defense would doom us come playoff time. He gets over powered more than people like to admit. And watching him guard wings was nails on a chalkboard.

Last game: 24-13-5 looks great until you see it took 23 shots and 8 missed 3 pointers to get there. And someone said this was a "great" game.

I do like those rebounding and assist numbers ngl.

But...

Complaining about not having Lauri anymore when we just got possibly the most talented player outside of Lebron in Cavs history is weird to me.

 

[DingleDong]

I wish him the best as well. I just don't think he was taking any leaps on this team as it was constructed then or now, which is why he's on another team again. Ultimately his defense would doom us come playoff time. He gets over powered more than people like to admit. And watching him guard wings was nails on a chalkboard.

Last game: 24-13-5 looks great until you see it took 23 shots and 8 missed 3 pointers to get there. And someone said this was a "great" game.

I do like those rebounding and assist numbers ngl.

But...

Complaining about not having Lauri anymore when we just got possibly the most talented player outside of Lebron in Cavs history is weird to me.

It wasn't a great game because he scored 24 points with 23 shots. Last time Lauri had more than 12 rebounds was 19-20 season and he only had 5 assists games twice last year. Before that, 18-19 season.
But I get it, you are coming from the background that Lauri was simply a 3 point shooter for Cleveland.

 

[Tlyons]

It wasn't a great game because he scored 24 points with 23 shots. Last time Lauri had more than 12 rebounds was 19-20 season and he only had 5 assists games twice last year. Before that, 18-19 season.
But I get it, you are coming from the background that Lauri was simply a 3 point shooter for Cleveland.

I wish him the best, but I'm lowkey happy we're not relying on him to be a core piece of a championship team.

 

[cavsfever]

Jazz go to 3-0 as Markkanen scores 31 points. Looking like we didn’t make enough effort to keep him.

 

[N7RobBob]

Jazz go to 3-0 as Markkanen scores 31 points. Looking like we didn’t make enough effort to keep him.

Deal doesn't happen without him.

 

[ticon12389]

 

[CleveRocks]

He has found a home in Utah. Dragon reborn...

 

[Marcus]

Happy for Lauri. Really wish we somehow could have kept him.

I'd still make the trade 10/10 times and wouldn't think twice about it.

 

[Goldin Brown]

Deal doesn't happen without him.

Exactly. People need to ask themselves whether they'd rather have Lauri or Donovan, there's no way that deal happens without Markkanen going to Utah. LeVert in place of Markkanen does not get that deal done, Utah would have dealt Mitchell to NY if we didn't include Lauri.

 

[DingleDong]

Exactly. People need to ask themselves whether they'd rather have Lauri or Donovan, there's no way that deal happens without Markkanen going to Utah. LeVert in place of Markkanen does not get that deal done, Utah would have dealt Mitchell to NY if we didn't include Lauri.

I would love to see people answer this at the end of the season. Mitchell is superstar but he isn't the kind of player Cavs were missing last season.

 

[ZooCrewDude]

I would love to see people answer this at the end of the season. Mitchell is superstar but he isn't the kind of player Cavs were missing last season.

Mitchell is a guy who goes and gets you a bucket at will when you call his number, no matter the moment. And he’s playoff proven to boot. We absolutely needed that last year. When defenses keyed in on DG and we had no other answer we folded down the stretch of the season. Markk wasn’t that guy… maybe he turns into that guy in Utah but he’s got a ways to go, especially from a playoff pedigree perspective.

If Lauri were here his usage would be in half… he’s getting his shot and blossoming for them - it’s great! But I don’t think if he’s here he’s doing the same thing and I don’t think he’s the answer in the same way Mitchell has been. Mitchell has been every bit as advertised and then some, I’m shocked.

It’s gonna end up a great trade for both parties and that’s just fine!

 

[Marcus]

I would love to see people answer this at the end of the season. Mitchell is superstar but he isn't the kind of player Cavs were missing last season.

Mitchell is the difference between the Cavs being 2-1 and 0-3 right now.

 

[DingleDong]

Mitchell is a guy who goes and gets you a bucket at will when you call his number, no matter the moment. And he’s playoff proven to boot. We absolutely needed that last year. When defenses keyed in on DG and we had no other answer we folded down the stretch of the season. Markk wasn’t that guy… maybe he turns into that guy in Utah but he’s got a ways to go, especially from a playoff pedigree perspective.

So here is the thing. I'm not trying to compare Lauri to Mitchell, I dont think anyone is. But making the Mitchell trade means Cavs are all in. There is no position where they are still doing things to develop the young guys and building the roster.
People seem to be fast on forgetting why Markkanen was a good fit on this team last year. Low usage, high effiency. Not demanding the ball. This lead to the team spreading the ball between all players and giving the attention to other guys, especially Mobley. Nothing what Markkanen is doing now can be compared to what he would do this year in Cavs. Because Markkanen would 100% do what JBB would tell him to do and that would most likely be similar situation that he was last year but maybe using Markkanen differently on half court. This is actually what Jbb was talking about in the summer when he was in Finland watching how the national team used Markkanen to bring ball up more and handling the ball half court.

 

[Goldin Brown]

As a basketball fan I'm actually happy we traded him to Utah. I think he's going to be a long term piece for them, I expect he'll have a lot of success. I like when good players end up in good situations and are able to play their best ball.

The Jazz might actually pretty good, I'm starting to wonder if this hot start is sustainable for them lol.