Cavs made a huge mistake and traded the wrong big man

[Statlanta]

If he was Dirk he would have made the playoffs already

[Mavrelous]

Bulls traded away WCJ and let Markannen walk + 2 picks 1 of them was Wagner.
Imagine these Bulls with WCJ, Wagner and Markannen, and all their future 1sts with them.

[jasonxxx102]

Yea Lauri will be better than one of the greatest PFs of all time because 2 games is totally more important than the last 5 season

[celticfan42487]

I mean to be fair Lauri didn't belong at the SF spot anyways, he always belonged at the big spot.

So good for him and his career, and the Cavs made a trade about winning that was serious, it was time to get a player that actually belonged at the SF position and is a 3 and D guy there to compliment their roster.

So good for Lauri to get to put up stats which... checks profile... ah yes we're making a thread about 20 ppgs on 45% fg and 29% 3 point shooting... great. But also play in a role that suits his frame so he can get rebounds again.

And good for CLE who is actually serious about winning to get someone who can guard wings to makeup for the red carpet defense that Donovan Mitchell plays and hopefully not have to rely solely on Mobely and Jarret finding ways to not foul out before the half.

[Nuntius]

Markkanen is probably underrated, and had an underrated season last year, but I'm not sure who the "right" big man is that the Cavs should have traded. Utah wouldn't have accepted Love, and it absolutely wouldn't have been a good idea to trade Mobley or Allen.

So the premise of the title seems flawed, but calling out Lauri's good play is worthwhile.

Agreed. Lauri has been awesome in these two games and I'm not shocked to see it. He was amazing in this year's EuroBasket. He definitely has his flaws and he does have some health concerns but he's better than what people usually give him credit for.

[JujitsuFlip]

I mean to be fair Lauri didn't belong at the SF spot anyways, he always belonged at the big spot.

So good for him and his career, and the Cavs made a trade about winning that was serious, it was time to get a player that actually belonged at the SF position and is a 3 and D guy there to compliment their roster.

So good for Lauri to get to put up stats which... checks profile... ah yes we're making a thread about 20 ppgs on 45% fg and 29% 3 point shooting... great. But also play in a role that suits his frame so he can get rebounds again.

And good for CLE who is actually serious about winning to get someone who can guard wings to makeup for the red carpet defense that Donovan Mitchell plays and hopefully not have to rely solely on Mobely and Jarret finding ways to not foul out before the half.

The Cavs didn't get this though... Lauri and Agbaji were going to get most/all of the minutes at SF and are now on the Jazz...

[Wolves21]

Lauri is a good player and starter and is still clearly improving his game and has upside,but he's not a superstar or star player in the league.He's like the 3rd or 4th guy on a true contender.But hats off to the Jazz with the 2-0 start,their a lot like the Nets before Kryie and KD showed up with a deep talented team that lacks a true superstar/star player.

[hippesthippo]

He looks like a 7' Gordon Hayward. That's as far as I'm willing to go.

It is odd how Chicago used their top young rookie [at the time] for like 2 months with good results, only to change his role and so he could waste away the rest of his tenure stuck in the corner waiting around to catch and shoot.

With Cleveland, it seems clear they saw the talent, or they wouldn't have started him at SF despite the fact that he would be their 3rd 7 footer on the floor. He just never really got a chance to showcase it with the year Darius Garland had.

Seeing him play for the Finnish National team this year in dominate fashion after a successful first year in Cleveland left me with the feeling that the NBA was wasting a great talent. I was actually happy to see him get traded to the Jazz where we knew he'd finally get a chance at the role his skillset is best suited for.

The NBA is full of talented players whose skillset largely limits them to playing in an on-ball initiator position. Unfortunately, those spots are extremely few and hard to come by in the NBA.

When those players never get their opportunity to play that role (whether it's because they're blocked by a more talented/expensive player, victims of poor coaches, or are overly deficient in other key areas/simply not that good) they're left with a few options:

1) except your fate and embrace a role, which includes adopting a radically new mindset while also completely changing up your training routine; 2) waste away on the bench in the NBA as their value precipitously drops, or; 3) go to Europe where you'll have a better chance at reclaiming that role. Just a few guys off the top of my head: Dario Saric, Troy Brown Jr., Rudy Fernandez, Jarret Culver, Boris Diaw, etc.

We've also seen a few players who have successfully averted the above fate: Domas Sabonis is the clearest example in recent memory. Spencer Dinwiddie and Khris Middleton where both talented Pistons who never got a chance to have the ball in their hands and have since gone on too have several successful seasons elsewhere playing more on-ball.

Thankfully, with so many talented NBA players in the FIBA competition this summer, a lot of people were exposed to some really high level basketball playing in far different roles than we are used to seeing them. Lauri was one of those guys, and I walked away a believer. Dude looked like an entirely different person when he was put in his best role and he showed he could play that role at a high enough level to at least compete with top NBA talent.

After the Pistons and Nuggets, the Jazz are likely to be the third team I follow this year.

[G R E Y]

Bad defender.

[hippesthippo]

"Better version of Dirk" is too much (making that claim is going to derail the entire thread), but as the #1 Lauri Markkanen supporter on the forum, I am not surprised to see him doing well. He has a lot of the ideal tools, despite the health issues.

I'll fight you for that title.

[MagicFan12345]

Markannen is very skilled for his size. Decent ballhandler and passer, and actually has some playmaking ability.

Seems like it took 5 years for the Americans realize that Lauri is able to do also other things than stand behind the line and shoot 3 pointers like Cavs and Bulls used him.

Will Hardy develop him to better version of Dirk. That is sure.

(Best rim protector in NBA owned so hard by Lauri)

Read on Twitter

Better version of Dirk?

[leolozon]

24pts on 23 shots is considered good by some?

It looks like a parody thread. No one would ever trade Mobley for Markkanen.

Well, OP never mentions Mobley, so who the other big is, is left for reader to decide. You seem to have chosen Mobley.

From Cavs point of view. Still not sure does the Allen / Mobley front court work. In defense they are fire, but on offense they do cause problems. So maybe OP would have traded Allen.

Or maybe OP was talking about Love, but only way Utah would have accepted Love is by putting Mobley with him, so that's not happening.

But Lauri won in this trade. If he would have stayed in Cavs, maybe he would have reached playoffs, but he would had half the touches and shots he does now. And about reaching playoffs. I do believe Cavs have higher ceiling this season than Utah, but stranger things have happened in NBA.

I do not think that was a good effective game from him, but you get selected to all star games with lousy efficiency number. All star selection is about PPG, total rebounds and assists. So only thing what matters is the amount of touches you get and what you do with those touches.

This appears like troll thread and I think you are overthinking this. OP made a comparaison with Dirk, so he is obviously implying that Mobley is the other big man as he is the only one making sense once you say that Lauri is the next Dirk.

[og15]

I think missing 20-30 games a season has probably been the main issue for him

[youngthegiant]

I agree, Cavs got too cute with their twin tower lineup, Mitchell and Garland would both benefit from extra spacing.

[Scalabrine]

Lauri was unlocked in Cleveland when he was made into a SF and not a PF/C. He's quick enough, and his size helps him with close outs a little easier. He's a really good player as a 3. He's undersized as a big man.

I don't think Cleveland is regretting their decision though, as he is the worst player out of Mobley/Allen and him.

[Lockdown504090]

Playoff liability, isn’ta shot creator against good defense. All you have to do is switch screens and watch him implode. The L wolves are just a train wreck that can’t defend him

[Hugi Mancura]

24pts on 23 shots is considered good by some?

It looks like a parody thread. No one would ever trade Mobley for Markkanen.

Well, OP never mentions Mobley, so who the other big is, is left for reader to decide. You seem to have chosen Mobley.

From Cavs point of view. Still not sure does the Allen / Mobley front court work. In defense they are fire, but on offense they do cause problems. So maybe OP would have traded Allen.

Or maybe OP was talking about Love, but only way Utah would have accepted Love is by putting Mobley with him, so that's not happening.

But Lauri won in this trade. If he would have stayed in Cavs, maybe he would have reached playoffs, but he would had half the touches and shots he does now. And about reaching playoffs. I do believe Cavs have higher ceiling this season than Utah, but stranger things have happened in NBA.

I do not think that was a good effective game from him, but you get selected to all star games with lousy efficiency number. All star selection is about PPG, total rebounds and assists. So only thing what matters is the amount of touches you get and what you do with those touches.

This appears like troll thread and I think you are overthinking this. OP made a comparaison with Dirk, so he is obviously implying that Mobley is the other big man as he is the only one making sense once you say that Lauri is the next Dirk.

I think every thread in RGM is a troll thread and if not they will turn into one in one page. Yes, this is a hot take, but honestly are there any other kind of takes in RGM? It's either hot takes or goat discussions in here and both are quite stupid ones.

Don't you think comparing Mobley to Dirk is little overthinking this. Other one is offensive weapon who ain't good at defense while other one is a defensive weapon with bad offense. Comparing Lauri and Dirk at least make some sense cause they are both offensive players, even though they are quite different. Dirk lived near the basket while Lauri is perimeter player. But game changes. If Dirk would arrive to NBA now, his playing style would probably be nearer Lauri's style than his own. No coach in NBA would want someone with Dirk's shooting ability to play near the basket.

[iLLmatic860]

Bulls traded away WCJ and let Markannen walk + 2 picks 1 of them was Wagner.
Imagine these Bulls with WCJ, Wagner and Markannen, and all their future 1sts with them.

Yea idk what the Bulls were thinking lol

[brutalitops]

He's still over-paid, Sure hes a good player but he doesnt do any of the defensive things you need a big to do and hes not that elite offensively to make up for it

[khufure]

He looks like a 7' Gordon Hayward. That's as far as I'm willing to go.

It is odd how Chicago used their top young rookie [at the time] for like 2 months with good results, only to change his role and so he could waste away the rest of his tenure stuck in the corner waiting around to catch and shoot.

As someone who watched basically all his games on Chicago, this is a head scratching take. The issue was on Lauri and being consistent. The dude has a lot of talent, and has had some great games, and good stretches. Let me just sum it up this way though. His rookie season was his best season. He's almost exactly the same player. He got drafted in 2017. You really think it was the Bulls or Cavs playing him out of position? Or maybe it's because he's a bad defender and inconsistent on offense especially when it comes to being aggressive.

Rookies => 3rd year you need to see some gain. Some moves you worked on, improvements in physique that are actually improvements, mentally being more consistent because of assload of time in the gym practicing the move and|or being in that situation a lot.. etc. This dude seems like a nice guy and I'm still rooting for him. But I don't believe he's ever gonna turn the corner. The reason for that is he's done jack all since he came into the league. He might be a worse player than his rookie year, for real.