Since joining the Jazz as part of the Donovan Mitchell trade, Lauri Markkanen has blossomed into a star. Despite his growth, it hasn’t led to any success for Utah, as their best season with Markkanen was his first year there with a 37-45 record. Fast forward to today, and the Jazz certainly have some interesting pieces around Markkanen, but it hasn’t translated into wins, with the Jazz sitting at just 1-10 to start the year.
Of course, Markkanen isn’t without fault, as the most games he’s played in one season was 66, and that number has fallen each consecutive year he’s been in Utah. His health has been a massive problem, but it’s clear he is not nearly good enough to be a number-one option on a winning team; frankly, he’d likely be better suited as a third option.
The most confusing part is why he’s still even on the Jazz. He’s shown such high-upside flashes through all these injuries, averaging almost 27 points per game last year on near 50/40/90 shooting splits. A guy with that talent would come with an impressive haul on the trade block, but CEO of basketball, Danny Ainge, has continually held off, thinking he will get more picks than Markkanen is worth.
Now, with Markkanen expected to miss the next month of action with a fractured hand, will there even be a great market for Markkanen? Unlike most other sports, basketball organizations—especially the most desperate ones—will be willing to sink their future if they believe a player like Markkanen could push them over the top.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure many teams left feel that way. In the East, the only competitive team that could be interested in Markkanen is the Pistons. Outside of Cade Cunningham, Detroit is missing another player who can flat-out score. The Pistons are in the bottom half of the league in scoring, even as Duncan Robinson is playing some of the best offense of his career, averaging a career-high 18.6 points per game on nearly 46% shooting from beyond the arc.
More importantly, Jalen Duren has proven he cannot find his role in the postseason, and moving to a closing lineup of Paul Reed and Markkanen could be a potential fix without significantly impacting the defensive end.
Out west, the options feel even bleaker. The Victor Wembanyama era has officially started, and that means teams need to feel that they have the pieces to beat a young Spurs team that already has a taste of the Finals. Maybe a team like Memphis, who has exceeded expectations early and has plenty of draft capital, could get in the mix, but even they feel it’s a year too soon to go all-in like that.
The only other fit I see is a team like the Lakers. Luka Doncic is once again playing like the best offensive player on the planet, and they might feel an upgrade at forward could help out offensively; however, Zaire Williams is currently shooting 45% from deep on nearly 5 attempts per night, so I don’t think they will be willing to make a move if they feel the price is too steep.
It truly feels that the Jazz have held on to their best trade chip for far too long, and now his value is lower than it ever was. Hopefully Markkanen bounces back quickly from the fractured hand, or his talent might once again be wasted on a bottom-feeder of the Western Conference.
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