According to Jake Fisher, the Utah Jazz are “expected to prioritize a contract extension with Markkanen,” but “…that won't stop rival teams from calling Markkanen and letting him know they're interested…”
There's plenty of trade activity planned for the future, like Detroit's Tim Hardaway Jr. deal, which had to be removed from last night's filing. More on how the offseason landscape is shaping up Yahoo Sports: https://t.co/4e2SdvkL3k
โ Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 28, 2024
Fisher said:
The Jazz are in a similar situation to Brooklyn before they let Bridges go: a non-championship roster with a 27-year-old core on a valuable contract that had the whole league interested. That centerpiece for Utah is Lauri Markkanen, who, unlike Bridges, is already an All-Star and will be in the final year of his contract if he doesn't reach an extension with Utah in the coming days and weeks. At this point, sources say, the Jazz are expected to prioritize Markkanen's contract extension, and Utah officials made that clear when they approached Bridges. There's nothing to stop rival teams from calling and expressing interest in Markkanen, with the hope that Utah might decide to punt like Brooklyn did if the Jazz can't secure a player close to a second star to replace Markkanen.
Fisher added that the Jazz are still looking for an opportunity.
Utah is clearly looking to take an opportunity — there were specific discussions about Murray between the Jazz and Hawks at the trade deadline, per sources — and what big moves Utah makes this summer beyond addressing the Markkanen situation could be one of the most intriguing situations of the NBA offseason.
Since this article was published today, we already know that Dejounte Murray has been traded.
Murray is another player off the Utah Jazz's “big game” checklist. At this point, what's left? Fisher said the Jazz have about $40 million in cap space, but much of that will likely go toward renegotiating Markkanen. Perhaps the only realistic possibility we know of is Brandon Ingram. But would the Jazz give up actual assets for a player they benched in the play-in? That seems highly unlikely, given what they gave up for Mikal Bridges. Maybe it could happen.
At some point, we have to start asking ourselves what the most likely or most logical outcome is: Would it be wise to renegotiate Markkanen's contract and make the team the worst in the Western Conference? Or would it be better to acquire another pick and focus on developing young players while positioning themselves for a solid 2025 draft class?
Another thing to consider is whether that cap space would be better spent on future trades. Utah could use that cap space to trade players and make better use of their cap, or else they'll end up with a roster full of veteran contracts that most teams won't want come the trade deadline.