Lauri appreciation thread - Bye GarPax era

[GoBlue72391]

They’re all trying it!

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It'll probably take 82 games before they realise it's a horrible idea.

It's actually worked well for them so far.

[chefo]

The Cavs have a problem very familiar to us Bulls fans--they are a team of quality 'bigs" that has no quality wings. Lauri is the closest thing from their tall players to a wing because he can shoot.

To add to that Sexton and Garland seem to have been G-league bad during preseason for some reason or another. The Cavs have been kinda' competitive despite their utter suckage.

Mobley looked really, really good the second Bulls game. When they get used to playing together, the Cavs teams may surprise people over the season. Allen may be overpaid, but is one of the best / most impactful defensive C's around. Mobley looks like an Isaac clone on D that can actually play some O. Lauri looks like good Lauri and has been their best player in pre-season. I don' think he'll only play 20 min /game if he plays that well. I can easily see up to 20/6 on excellent %, if he gets his minutes bumped to 30-ish, between playing some SF and backup C.

If their Gs don't stink up the place, they'll be a nice young team overall. Don't know if they'll win much because that's dependent on your ball handlers in tight games, but they'll be better than they looked when the Bulls trashed them by 40.

[MrSparkle]

I didn’t think the Lauri at SF experiment looked too bad (in Chicago). Success would just vary greatly; who did we beat that one game, the Pistons?

Cavs really don’t have much going for them besides Mobley. But he is a hell of a prospect. Really smooth offensive game for his size and speed. Gonna dominate the league in 2 years. F***ing Cleveland and its tanking luck. They deserve another 5 Bennetts.

I wouldn’t have surrounded Mobley with 70m in non-star big men, but oh well. Guess it does’t matter that much, he just needs to develop. In the meantime, sure he and Lauri can play together.

[ArtMorte]

I think Lauri plays a lot like a small forward, the spots he looks most comfortable at, his off-the-ball movement, unrefined post-up game... It's only his lack of dribbling skill and quickness that pushes him towards the power forward role instead, but it's definitely not a crazy idea to me that the Cavs would try him at SF. It's not like they've got something to lose, either.

[PaKii94]

I've always said Lauri is closer to an oversized wing (3-4) vs a C (4-5). This isn't news to me

[E-DC]

I've always said Lauri is closer to an oversized wing (3-4) vs a C (4-5). This isn't news to me

Me neither. I noticed this during his first ever Summer League game. If Cleveland figures this out, he's going to take them places.

[madvillian]

I've always said Lauri is closer to an oversized wing (3-4) vs a C (4-5). This isn't news to me

Me neither. I noticed this during his first ever Summer League game. If Cleveland figures this out, he's going to take them places.

to the lotto? Lauri stans crowing after a couple preseason games, come on.

[Kurt Heimlich]

I'm curious how Lauri will do on the Cavs. There was a time where a lot of our hopes were on his shoulders and he obviously did not live up to that hope. But that doesn't mean he can't grow and find a place where he can be successful.

The Cavs are bad so at least expectations are generally rock bottom over there, and he doesn't have the stigma/expectations of being traded for the face of the franchise like he effectively was here. Plus the 3 big lineup might be a fun novelty in the small/positionless ball era we're deep into at this point. I've always said Lauri is a guard "cursed" with the relatively slow feet of a 7 foot body. Maybe they can hide the obvious issues that come with losing a ball handler/quicker footed defender at the 3 with Mobley's potentially freakish talent set.

[GoBlue72391]

If Lauri plays all season even half as aggressive as he did in the second preseason game against the Bulls then he's in for a big, big year regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench. The self-created off the dribble contested fadeaway midrange over DeRozan, taking the ball 5 feet behind the 3-point line and crossing over against DeRozan for the driving dunk, and post-up, pass out, re-post for better position, and nailing the post fade was really eye-opening and had me asking "Where the hell was that when you were in Chicago?" That and just his overall confidence/aggressiveness and desire to dunk everything instead of going up soft, and his defense was solid.

His preseason numbers (both regular and per 36) and really, really good and you could make the argument he's been the Cavs' best player this preseason. Small sample size + preseason caveat obviously applies.

[MrSparkle]

If Lauri plays all season even half as aggressive as he did in the second preseason game against the Bulls then he's in for a big, big year regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench. The self-created off the dribble contested fadeaway midrange over DeRozan, taking the ball 5 feet behind the 3-point line and crossing over against DeRozan for the driving dunk, and post-up, pass out, re-post for better position, and nailing the post fade was really eye-opening and had me asking "Where the hell was that when you were in Chicago?" That and just his overall confidence/aggressiveness and desire to dunk everything instead of going up soft, and his defense was solid.

His preseason numbers (both regular and per 36) and really, really good and you could make the argument he's been the Cavs' best player this preseason. Small sample size + preseason caveat obviously applies.

Lauri always had good games against weak defenders. Usually against the tank Hawks or Hornets, or his runs against ACL Porzingis or Love.

We signed DeRozan knowing he's gonna be a bad 1-on-1 defender.

[GoBlue72391]

If Lauri plays all season even half as aggressive as he did in the second preseason game against the Bulls then he's in for a big, big year regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench. The self-created off the dribble contested fadeaway midrange over DeRozan, taking the ball 5 feet behind the 3-point line and crossing over against DeRozan for the driving dunk, and post-up, pass out, re-post for better position, and nailing the post fade was really eye-opening and had me asking "Where the hell was that when you were in Chicago?" That and just his overall confidence/aggressiveness and desire to dunk everything instead of going up soft, and his defense was solid.

His preseason numbers (both regular and per 36) and really, really good and you could make the argument he's been the Cavs' best player this preseason. Small sample size + preseason caveat obviously applies.

Lauri always had good games against weak defenders. Usually against the tank Hawks or Hornets, or his runs against ACL Porzingis or Love.

We signed DeRozan knowing he's gonna be a bad 1-on-1 defender.

To me it doesn't really matter who is defending him, just Lauri having the confidence and aggression to create offense for himself is always a positive thing to see. Lauri was at his best during FebruLauri when he was handling and creating consistently and aggressively, and he had arguably the best game of his career against the then-contender Celtics.

[E-DC]

If Lauri plays all season even half as aggressive as he did in the second preseason game against the Bulls then he's in for a big, big year regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench. The self-created off the dribble contested fadeaway midrange over DeRozan, taking the ball 5 feet behind the 3-point line and crossing over against DeRozan for the driving dunk, and post-up, pass out, re-post for better position, and nailing the post fade was really eye-opening and had me asking "Where the hell was that when you were in Chicago?" That and just his overall confidence/aggressiveness and desire to dunk everything instead of going up soft, and his defense was solid.

His preseason numbers (both regular and per 36) and really, really good and you could make the argument he's been the Cavs' best player this preseason. Small sample size + preseason caveat obviously applies.

Lauri always had good games against weak defenders. Usually against the tank Hawks or Hornets, or his runs against ACL Porzingis or Love.

We signed DeRozan knowing he's gonna be a bad 1-on-1 defender.

After the season, I ran the numbers based on the best and worst defenses in the NBA. Against the top 5 defenses based on Defensive Rating, Lauri shot 48% and 42%. Against the top 5 defenses based on opponent FG%, he shot 50% and 46%. Lauri is a young talented player, and if he continues to improve will have a very bright future with the Cavaliers. The Bulls have made a gamble and hopefully it pays off for us. But as a Bulls fan I'll also be rooting for Lauri, just as I continue to root for Jimmy Buckets.

[TeamMan]

IMO this thread is well named by including "...Bye GarPax era..."

That's because (also IMO) it was a "standard" of the era that players left the Bulls under negative circumstances.

And most often it was because GarPax decisions about players were based upon how well they would fit into the Bulls caps situation, rather than on the effect that the player would have on winning.

So, it often happened that ex-Bulls players would move to winning situations after they left the team - that is, if they hadn't developed an attitude (while playing for GarPax) that wasn't based on winning.

With Lauri, IMO he's landed somewhere in between the two positions - he's been affected by the "negative circumstances" from the GarPax era, but he still believes that he can be a "winner" in the NBA.

It may be that he still won't reach his full potential with the Cavs, but I expect that the transition will help him to realized that he needs to make improvements to his skill set before he can reach his full potential.

And it'll be with his 3rd team that we finally see him move into a solid winning situation.

[PaKii94]

Apparently Cavs are considering starting Lauri at the 3. Let's see how it works out. I wanted to see Lauri as a "big wing" vs a "big" so this should be interesting

[sco]

Apparently Cavs are considering starting Lauri at the 3. Let's see how it works out. I wanted to see Lauri as a "big wing" vs a "big" so this should be interesting

I drafted Lauri to my fantasy team, which should assure his under-performance but hedges my emotional risk if plays well.

So that means it's Lauri vs. Okoro...interesting, but I guess they want his 3pt shooting out there.

[MGB8]

If Lauri plays all season even half as aggressive as he did in the second preseason game against the Bulls then he's in for a big, big year regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench. The self-created off the dribble contested fadeaway midrange over DeRozan, taking the ball 5 feet behind the 3-point line and crossing over against DeRozan for the driving dunk, and post-up, pass out, re-post for better position, and nailing the post fade was really eye-opening and had me asking "Where the hell was that when you were in Chicago?" That and just his overall confidence/aggressiveness and desire to dunk everything instead of going up soft, and his defense was solid.

His preseason numbers (both regular and per 36) and really, really good and you could make the argument he's been the Cavs' best player this preseason. Small sample size + preseason caveat obviously applies.

The bigger issue to me with Lauri will be what happens when the offense doesn't work.

We all know and knew that Lauri could score in bunches. That was never his issue. Before the Vuc trade, he was the 2nd best and second most reliable scorer on the Bulls, and you could see the impact / increased burden on LaVine when he was out (or off).

But when the shots didn't come or didn't fall --- Lauri's urgency of play seemed notably affected in other areas. There were flashes of improvement on that at the end of last season --- enough that there's reason for optimism about him and his career. But if he goes back to shrinking when the offense isn't coming... then he's almost a net negative.

[dougthonus]

Apparently Cavs are considering starting Lauri at the 3. Let's see how it works out. I wanted to see Lauri as a "big wing" vs a "big" so this should be interesting

I probably won't watch a whole lot of Cavs games, but it will be interesting to see how that works out. The one thing is that he should be able to get a lot of shots off. Teams aren't going to be able to put long defenders on him with Allen and Mobley in the game as well.

He will need a lot less space to shoot over 6-5 guys.

The question will then be are they too quick with their hands and can he guard them on the perimeter. It sets up as a difficult ask for Lauri defensively, but against a lot of teams they may simply not have the personnel to take advantage of it.

[GoBlue72391]

Apparently Cavs are considering starting Lauri at the 3. Let's see how it works out. I wanted to see Lauri as a "big wing" vs a "big" so this should be interesting

I probably won't watch a whole lot of Cavs games, but it will be interesting to see how that works out. The one thing is that he should be able to get a lot of shots off. Teams aren't going to be able to put long defenders on him with Allen and Mobley in the game as well.

He will need a lot less space to shoot over 6-5 guys.

The question will then be are they too quick with their hands and can he guard them on the perimeter. It sets up as a difficult ask for Lauri defensively, but against a lot of teams they may simply not have the personnel to take advantage of it.

I always thought Lauri was better defending the perimeter than the paint, and with Allen and Mobley protecting the rim behind him this might work out better than expected. That trio played pretty well together during preseason and experimenting with Lauri at the 3 last season was an intriguing idea that had some success and some rough spots. My main concern is that, playing with a ball-stopper like Sexton, he could fall back to just floating around which he has a tendency to do when he's not involved in the offense.

A big thing will be if he can consistently take advantage of smaller players, which should be a regular occurrence if he does indeed start at SF. As you said he should be able to shoot over them pretty easily, but can he score against them with his back to basket like he flashed in limited opportunities last season? Can he drive on them without getting stripped? If he's capable of doing even one of those things consistently he could be in line for a big season.

[dougthonus]

Apparently Cavs are considering starting Lauri at the 3. Let's see how it works out. I wanted to see Lauri as a "big wing" vs a "big" so this should be interesting

I probably won't watch a whole lot of Cavs games, but it will be interesting to see how that works out. The one thing is that he should be able to get a lot of shots off. Teams aren't going to be able to put long defenders on him with Allen and Mobley in the game as well.

He will need a lot less space to shoot over 6-5 guys.

The question will then be are they too quick with their hands and can he guard them on the perimeter. It sets up as a difficult ask for Lauri defensively, but against a lot of teams they may simply not have the personnel to take advantage of it.

I always thought Lauri was better defending the perimeter than the paint, and with Allen and Mobley protecting the rim behind him this might work out better than expected. That trio played pretty well together during preseason and experimenting with Lauri at the 3 last season was an intriguing idea that had some success and some rough spots. My main concern is that, playing with a ball-stopper like Sexton, he could fall back to just floating around which he has a tendency to do when he's not involved in the offense.

A big thing will be if he can consistently take advantage of smaller players, which should be a regular occurrence if he does indeed start at SF. As you said he should be able to shoot over them pretty easily, but can he score against them with his back to basket like he flashed in limited opportunities last season? Can he drive on them without getting stripped? If he's capable of doing even one of those things consistently he could be in line for a big season.

I think it will tough for him to take smaller guys off the dribble (they'll be quicker) and tough to back them down (where are Mobley and Allen going to stand while Lauri is in the post? Even if successful it will be a weird fit in the offense). I do think if he can just shoot over them from three, or start doing mid range Dirk moves in the mid post that he can do a lot on offense and avoid both those problems though.

[madvillian]

Lauri looks the same or worse. A stinker tonight.