LeBron James, Dwyane Wade Discuss Lauri Markkanen's Performance

Cavaliers forward LeBron James said Lauri Markkanen is "very confident," following the rookie's 19-point outing in Cleveland's 119-112 win over the Chicago Bulls.

He's a "very confident kid," James said, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "Can shoot the heck out of the ball. He's going to continue to get better. The best thing about it he's getting an opportunity. So you can make mistakes and learn on the fly. But he's going to play a lot because he's learning. He's a good player."

Markkanen finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, knocking down five threes in the first half. He's been in double digits in all three of Chicago's first three games.

"You can see if a guy knows how to play basketball when you first see him. In the preseason, we all said he can play," Dwyane Wade said.

Markkanen moved into the starting lineup only out of necessity. The practice brawl between Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic left Markkanen as the only viable option in the starting lineup at the 4 spot.

"I thought our guys did an excellent job of finding him," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters. "We got him in transition several times out of our flow offense. The third quarter, they really made it a point of switching out to deny him. When we tried to take him down to the block, he just lost it a couple of times. That will come with strength. He's going to be a heckuva player, man."

Hoiberg may have no choice but to keep Markkanen in the lineup going forward. Portis was issued an eight-game suspension for punching Mirotic, and Mirotic has not been given a firm return date from his facial injury.