According to Chris Mannix, the Utah Jazz are “very open” to trading Lauri Markkanen.
When answering the question of “who are the names to watch at the trade deadline?” Chris Mannix had this to say:
Lauri Markkanen is the name I hear most frequently. Utah passed on an offer from Golden State for Markkanen in the summer of 2024, believing a stronger market would materialize. It didn’t, and right now there is a belief that the Jazz are very open for business on their 28-year-old ex-All-Star.
There are two interesting parts to that. The first being that the Jazz believed a stronger market would materialize for Markkanen. The weeks leading up to the Markkanen deal were full of rumors involving multiple teams, but especially Golden State. And even after the trade happened, we were told that Utah felt that there was going to be more teams interested because he would have a long term deal that teams would be comfortable trading for. This confirms those rumors. The problem? Lauri Markkanen had a down year last year. Maybe it was because he got his money and relaxed, maybe it was injury, maybe it was to help the tank. Whatever the reason, what it didn’t do was help his trade value.
The second interesting part of this is that the Jazz are very open. You always have to consider the source of these rumors every time this happens. It’s clear the rumors last year were coming from Golden State’s side. This time, it’s likely coming from rival GMs as well, who have likely talked with the Jazz. That can be good sign because it means they’re talking but who knows if the offers Utah might be hearing are worth doing. If Markkanen stinks again this season like last year, Utah may be stuck with one of the worst contracts in the league and a player that could put their lottery odds at risk again.
All that said, we’ve heard these rumors before, we’ll see if anything actually comes of this one.
