How does Lauri Markkanen sound?
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Golden State is “trying to be aggressive” on the trade market. One of its targets, reportedly, is Markkanen, a 27-year-old forward who stands 7 feet tall, made the All-Star Game in 2023 and has averaged 24.5 points on 63.6% true shooting in two years with the Utah Jazz.
“Utah’s not sure it wants to trade him, but they have to listen,” Wojnarowski said on SportsCenter. “They’ve been listening. And a lot of the teams who lost out on Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn have transferred over to trying to see if they can land Lauri Markkanen out of Utah. Golden State is one of those teams.”
Also like Bridges, Markkanen is signed to a below-market contract. He’ll make $18 million this coming season, the last year of a four-year deal that he signed (as part of a sign-and-trade that sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers) after a season in which the Chicago Bulls demoted and deemphasized him. Markkanen is eligible for an extension now, but will be eligible to sign a much more lucrative deal by signing a new contract as a free agent next summer. For a team like Golden State that is hard-capped at the first apron, this represents a rare opportunity, provided that Utah will actually part with him: Markkanen’s current salary is low enough to make acquiring him feasible, and it can realistically retain him with Bird Rights a year from now.
The Jazz, naturally, could just keep Markkanen and re-sign him themselves. But on his next deal, he probably won’t have as much trade value as he does today, particularly if they can create a bidding war. Utah is worlds away from win-now mode, so, even though Markkanen is just approaching his prime, he could be worth more as somebody else’s missing piece than the Jazz’s centerpiece.
