Sports
Jazz Must Look Toward Future, Trade Lauri Markkanen Amid NBA Rumors – Bleacher Report
The 2023 season has not gone according to plan for the Utah Jazz, who are currently 9-17 and sit 12th in the Western Conference standings.
Realistically unlikely to compete for a playoff spot or NBA title in the near future, it would seem as though they would be the perfect trade partner for a team looking to bolster their roster in pursuit of said championship, except team officials had previously made it clear that burgeoning star forward Lauri Markkanen was off limits.
That appears to have changed, per Jake Fisher of Yahoo Sports.
“The Jazz are by no means expected to trade the 7-foot sharpshooter at this juncture. He has been a true favorite of Jazz officials, sources said. But Utah has indeed left opposing executives with the sense that Markkanen is no longer untouchable in trade conversations, league sources told Yahoo Sports, a tangible change from previous transaction windows.”
While it is understandable that the Jazz would be hesitant to deal the one player on the team that has performed at a consistently high level this season, and is on a team-friendly deal through the next two seasons, it would behoove the team to do so.
Markkanen is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career right now. He is averaging 23.4 points a game, 8.4 total rebounds a game, and is shooting 48.9 percent from the paint, 39 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.3 percent from the foul line.
He looks like the guy the Minnesota Timberwolves thought they were getting out of the University of Arizona when the team drafted him with the No. 7 pick in 2017. His value has never been higher, which means what the Jazz receive in return for him will be, too.
The team has a history of acquiring massive hauls for talented big men, as we saw a year ago when they traded Rudy Gobert to Minnesota “for guards Patrick Beverley, Malik Beasley and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, along with guard Leandro Bolmaro, the draft rights to center Walker Kessler and Minnesota’s 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 first round picks and a 2026 first round pick swap.”
Fisher quoted a source, “…they are saying they’re willing to listen. They are willing to listen to calls on everyone, but it’s a matter of meeting their price like Minnesota did for Rudy [Gobert].”
Markkanen may not command the enormous haul that Gobert did, but the Jazz could still acquire significant players and/or draft picks in return for a forward who any playoff-contending team would love to add to their roster.
His current value given his quality of play notwithstanding, the Finnish star has another year on his contract before the team will have to start negotiating what would be a new, long-term deal.
As Fisher wrote, “there’s a sentiment among cap strategists that Utah perhaps won’t consider Markkanen’s next salary point a worthwhile cost if the Jazz are so far from the playoff picture with Markkanen as their best player.”
That sentiment makes sense. If Markkanen is the best player on the Jazz team right now, the team is losing, and officials question whether he can be the foundation of the organization moving forward, why would they both negotiating a sizable deal with him?
If there is no intent to get a long-term deal done, and it is obvious the team isn’t going anywhere this season, it would not only be in its best interest to execute a trade but it would only make business sense to.
Trade him, get something in return while he is as good as he has ever been, and focus on the future and rebuilding a playoff contending team. The alternative is playing out the season, risking an injury to the competitor or diminished returns through the rest of the year, and losing the value.
Just in time to start contract negotiations in 12 months.
