Utah Jazz Finnish forward Lauri Markkanen has a unique NBA skill set.
In a shooter-heavy league, Markkanen is attempting eight 3-pointers a game and hitting 40 percent of them. Plus, he's 7-foot-10, good around the hoop, averaging 23 points and 8 rebounds a game, and he's done it all without playing a starting-caliber point guard role for most of the season. The Utah Jazz need a No. 1 option, and Markkanen would be a perfect fit at the No. 2 position on a championship-caliber team. But the 27-year-old Markkanen, who joined the Jazz in the trade that sent Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a star.
The NBA knows this, too, which is why half the league is lining up in hopes the Jazz will trade him, with several reports suggesting teams like the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings have expressed interest and are preparing offers for the Jazz to consider.
The Jazz know this, too. That's why they're hesitant to trade Markkanen, even as they're in the midst of a rebuilding team that still appears to be in the early stages of a rebuild. In fact, even if the Jazz were able to extract a big offer and a ton of assets for Markkanen, he might be more valuable to the Jazz than he is to other teams in the league.
From Deron Williams to Carlos Boozer to Gordon Hayward to Mitchell to Rudy Gobert, the past two decades have proven relentless in the Jazz's efforts to retain stars long-term since the departures of Karl Malone and John Stockton. Markkanen and his family are happy in Utah and are supportive of Utah's plans for a potential renegotiation and extension once contract negotiations open up later this summer.
Since the season ended, Markkanen has been consistently at the Jazz facility working out, lifting and hanging out with his teammates. Of course, he wants to win, and losing the past two seasons has been frustrating. But he's happy in Utah and he's happy with the Jazz.
These are all things the Jazz must consider when making a decision on Markkanen. One could argue that Markkanen is entering the prime of his career and is on a different timeline than some of his younger, less experienced teammates. On the other hand, while Markkanen is athletic, his game doesn't depend on it. From a basketball standpoint, he's healthy as he ages and the timeline shouldn't be an issue.
On the one hand, Markkanen's presence helps the Jazz win, but that may not be a good thing considering the talent in the NBA's 2025 draft class led by Cooper Flagg. The Jazz need to lose as much as they can to keep their protected first-round picks, 1-10, which they give up to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Meanwhile, let's look at what the Western Conference will look like next season. The Jazz have yet to make any big moves in free agency, but if they don't do anything, they could be as good as any team in the Western Conference, even with Markkanen.
Of course, the teams courting the Jazz for Markkanen have their own agendas. The Warriors are preparing to win one last title in the Stephen Curry era. The Kings are salivating at the thought of pairing Markkanen with Keegan Murray. And can you imagine Markkanen teaming up with Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio?
The Jazz also know that many of the teams they're trying to convince to trade Markkanen are looking to add to their core players, not subtract them. That means Golden State won't offer Jonathan Kuminga. The Kings won't offer Murray. They won't offer Jalen Williams, even if the Oklahoma City Thunder offer. Many of the offers the Jazz are making are pick-heavy. But if the Jazz trade Markkanen for someone, that team would be significantly stronger. So how good will those picks end up being? That's the question the Jazz must answer.
Of course, the reason to trade Markkanen is the talent level of the 2025 and 2026 NBA drafts. Both are great, with dynamic franchise-level talent at the top. In 2025, they have Flagg. But they also have Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper and Nolan Traore, arguably the best point guard to come out of France since Tony Parker. In 2026, they have Cam Boozer, the son of Carlos. They have AJ DiVanza, Koa Pete and Ian Jackson. Utah needs to take as many chances as they can with these draft classes. It's fair to wonder if they'd be in that position with Markkanen on the roster.
The Jazz will set their sights on the 2024-25 season in the coming days. They signed Drew Eubanks, a rugged center who played last season with the Phoenix Suns. But that's the only substantive move they've made so far. Despite all the chatter about a possible trade in recent days, the Jazz have remained adamant about Markkanen. They don't want to trade him.
If the team wanted to trade Markkanen, the proposal would force general manager Justin Zanik and executive Danny Ainge to go to owner Ryan Smith and essentially say, “We need to look at this.”
What was that big offer? Only Ainge and the Nick know the answer. At the same time, the market was shaped by the Brooklyn Nets trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for five first-round draft picks. Did the Knicks overpay for Bridges? Probably. But Bridges was the last piece of the puzzle, and they had no choice but to trade him.
Do the Jazz feel they're getting that kind of “Godfather” offer? As of Monday night, the answer was probably “no,” because Markkanen is still in a Jazz uniform.
It's an interesting battle Utah is battling with itself, knowing there's a treasure trove of other assets out there somewhere and that the next two drafts will give them the best chance of landing that elusive No. 1 player that any NBA champion needs, but there's a lot of upside to the Jazz finding a way out of rock bottom this season with Markkanen on the roster, Flagg, Bailey and Harper and a No. 2 already in place with Markkanen.
It also makes a lot of sense to give Utah's young players a chance to grow and overcome collective hardships this season. Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks and Bryce Sensabaugh are in their second year and Walker Kessler is in his third. Isaiah Collier, Cody Williams and Kyle Filipowski are rookies. These are young players the Jazz need to use and evaluate. If Utah doesn't have any free agents in the next few days, these guys will get plenty of opportunities.
Even if Markkanen signs an extension, it won't stop teams from testing Utah's resolve at the trade deadline or next summer. This has been one of the big talking points of the offseason, and it's not likely the rumors will die down anytime soon.
(Photo of Lauri Markkanen by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
