There are multiple teams looking to acquire Lauri Markkanen in a trade, and today we learned more information. Another team to watch in the race to acquire Lauri Markkanen is Zach Lowe of the Miami Heat.
From Rowe's latest article:
Trading Lauri Markkanen would give Utah a one-way ticket to the front line of their force. And with Mikal Bridges now in New York, Markkanen would be the league's most attractive trade chip. Sources say a number of teams have expressed interest in him, including the San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Miami Heat and Warriors. Based on history, Utah CEO Danny Ainge will move Markkanen if someone matches his price. That could be tomorrow, or it could be a few months from now if the Jazz increase Markkanen's salary and sign a contract extension if allowed in early August.
Utah has the cap space to do that. Most of the teams interested in Markkanen are too cap-deep to extend his contract if they acquire him. If the Jazz signed Markkanen to an extension first, it would provide peace of mind to interested teams and potentially increase Markkanen's trade value.
Either way, Utah can’t stay humming along for two months before the front office retreats and ends up picking around No. 10.
I think the rivalry between Ainge and Riley is probably a bit overblown, but a trade with the Heat might not be on the cards. On top of that, the Miami Heat have a lot of their future draft capital protected in other trades, so they likely can't meet the price Danny Ainge set. Still, it's interesting to see them in this race, even if it seems like they're doing so with every chip they have in a potential trade.
Marc Stein reported on why the trade is dragging on longer than expected and which teams are currently interested in Markkanen.
First, he reiterated the teams he's heard are in the running to acquire the Utah Jazz forward.
Three main takeaways I've heard as Utah reports it remains open to fielding calls from teams interested in highly coveted forward Lauri Markkanen… Golden State has been actively pursuing Markkanen as of late and has also been in talks with other teams including Sacramento, San Antonio, Miami and New Orleans.
However, Stein explained that the Jazz would have to wait until Aug. 6 to renegotiate with Markkanen if they so wish, which could work to Utah's advantage.
The Jazz can't use their projected $30 million-plus salary-cap space to renegotiate and extend Markkanen's contract until Aug. 6, which encourages Utah to keep taking all calls and listening to proposals in the meantime. This approach obviously can't hurt, and it also gives them a ton of useful information. The Danny Ainge-led Jazz were always going to go down this route if they were serious about keeping Markkanen.
It may also be harder for Utah to trade him now since they're not locked into a long-term contract.
Several rival teams share the view that it would be difficult for the Jazz to trade Markkanen in the short term, even if they wanted to, because he is entering the final season of his current contract, which is worth just $18 million. It would obviously be difficult for the Jazz to obtain a trade package in exchange for Markkanen that is on par with what Brooklyn paid for Mikal Bridges, without him being under team control for more than a season and with a relatively low salary. If the 27-year-old Markkanen were to sign an extension, the Jazz would have a much better chance of receiving a Bridges-style offer that includes future draft picks, like the one New York agreed to offer the Nets.
That doesn't mean a trade is impossible, but it does mean that the trading party would likely want a guarantee to re-sign, similar to what happened with Pascal Siakam and the Indiana Pacers.
He said one team that has shown interest in Markkanen is convinced they will trade him because of the difficulty of acquiring a tier-1 type player, which is more likely in the next few drafts.
At least one team that has expressed interest in Markkanen is confident that the Jazz will trade him in the near future, even if he signs an extension. And that's despite the fact that the 7-foot-tall Finn wants to stay in Salt Lake City. That's because, according to teams that have consulted, it's been difficult to acquire a top-level player to play alongside him so far. That could make the trade route more attractive, especially given the projected strength of the NBA's 2025 and 2026 draft classes.
Finally, Stein spoke about what it would mean to trade Markkanen next season and the logistics of it being… risky for Utah.
Here's another interesting and very important point: Next season's trade deadline is Feb. 6, eight days before All-Star Weekend (Feb. 14-16) begins in San Francisco.
This is crucial because Markkanen cannot be traded for six months after signing his contract extension in Utah.
Six months from August 6th is February 6th.
Translation: After checking with the league office, it appears that if the extension is finalized with the Jazz immediately on Aug. 6, Markkanen will only be trade eligible on Feb. 6 and Feb. 6 next season. If the extension is finalized after Aug. 7, Markkanen will not be trade eligible until after the 2024-25 season.
So, if the draft is your plan, do you renegotiate with Markkanen now and make plans to trade him on that exact date, February 6th? That's a very risky decision that will have huge implications on the team's future. What if Markkanen gets hurt? What if the season doesn't go well? What if he demands a specific team? All of that makes this a critical situation, and not one that Utah can just sit back and watch unfold like it has the past two seasons.
Utah has to make a firm decision about its future at some point and act on it. Leaving things to chance is not going to work.
