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Lauri Markkanen, Chicago Bulls. Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images
Every move in the NBA has ripple effects cascading out from it. Trading one player affects countless others, as the Cleveland Cavaliers will discover next season. Swapping Larry Nance Jr. for Lauri Markkanen not only slots a new name into the power forward depth chart, but it also changes things at other positions as well.
The Cavs have a lot of talented players on their roster, and most of them are young and in line to improve next year. How should they be deployed against their opponents? Will the team embrace the youth movement or try to emphasize 2021-22 winning?
With Lauri Markkanen in the fold, the lineup for the Cavs will change as the addition ripples out through the roster
This offseason has muddied the water about their primary focus. They hung onto their No. 3 overall pick and selected Evan Mobley, and in adding Lauri Markkanen in a sign and trade they chose the younger player over the older. Yet at the same time they committed $167 million to a pair of bigs, burned one of their best trade chips and ensured they would be without functional cap space for the next four seasons.
How do these decisions ripple out to affect the Cavs’ rotation for next season? Specifically, how does the swap of Larry Nance Jr. for Lauri Markkanen change the complexion of the lineups that will be used? Let’s walk through next year’s rotation one level at a time.
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