Quotes are from an interview on ESPN700 radio, I got these from This Twitter thread. Tony Jones is the Jazz beat writer for The Athletic
On when Markkanen will sign his extension:
"I would expect him to sign on Aug. 7th, or after Aug 6th. Lauri doesn't want to be traded so… I expect him to do it after Aug 6th so there's no trade talk this year" "I don't even think him signing on Aug 6th is even an option. We're almost 100% trending towards him signing on Aug 7th."
"Lauri has really taken to Utah. His family has taken to Utah. Obviously the Jazz can trade him between now and Aug 6th, and Lauri knows that, but Lauri has forged a really close relationship to Will Hardy. And Will has really found a way to unlock his career" "And Lauri really recognizes that and appreciates that, and wants to be a part of the rebuild."
"From the Jazz perspective… Lauri is 27. His game is not predicated on athleticism… His game should age well. Meaning, the Jazz are fully confident that Lauri will still be this version of Lauri, or very close to it, the next time the Jazz are, in fact, good."
"The likely scenario is Lauri signs on Aug 7th, the Jazz prioritize the young guys during the season, and they try to enter the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes" "The thing that people are not understanding is that the Jazz are going to really prioritize the young guys from Day 1. And if they had their druthers, they would have traded Jordan Clarkson… they would have traded John Collins." "Even with that, I still think the Jazz are going to de-emphasize the veterans and are going to prioritize the young guys."
"I think the front office is going to go into this with the mindset of: we have to do anything we can to get a top 5 pick in this draft… the Jazz realize how good this draft is. And I think they are going to act accordingly, whether Lauri is on the roster or not"
Spence asks Tony what he believes the Jazz rotation will look like next year in order to prioritize the young guys
"Well the number one thing is Walker Kessler becomes the starting center and John Collins comes off the bench"
On the odds of Markkanen being traded:
"We're down to 2 things"
"Number one, they re-sign Lauri and they use the bulk of their cap space, they sign their rookies, they sign Eubanks, and their business is pretty much done"
"The second option is they trade Lauri, they take back Brandin Podziemski from the Warriors and a whole bunch of draft picks, and they become a team where other teams can dump salary for draft compensation"
"I think we're trending towards the Jazz NOT trading Lauri. I don't think there's a package out there that they are overly interested in."
Spence asks Tony to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 on whether he believes Lauri gets traded.
"I would probably put it at a 2"
On why Utah hasn't completely blown up the roster yet:
Spence explains he doesn't understand the direction the Jazz are going & wishes they would have picked a more definitive direction
Tony: "They just couldn't trade their veterans. You can't trade people if there is no one who wants to trade for them"
"John (Collins) makes a little too much money. And I don't anticipate the Jazz being able to trade him until the last year of his contract. Jordan Clarkson is the one that surprises me because I thought he'd have more of a market this summer, but it just hasn't materialized"
"The thing that has been unforeseen is teams being wary of the 1st & 2nd salary cap aprons. Teams just aren't taking money as easily and readily as they've done in the past."
TL;DR: Very unlikely Markkanen gets traded, most likely he signs an extension on August 7th or later. The Jazz will embrace youth next season, with Walker Kessler likely to reenter the starting lineup. Veterans have not been traded yet because there is no market. Utah will do whatever they can to get a Top 5 pick in the 2025 draft.
by Goosedukee
38 Comments
Oh well. As long as Lauri is happy because I don’t see them competing meaningfully until his early 30s.
He might end up wasting his prime on a rebuilding team.
Good for Utah. I wonder what kind of panic trade the Warriors will make now to try and keep Curry happy.
His choices this summer are getting the bag from Utah or getting personally invested in trade talks that clearly have no chance of happening. Accepting option #1 will lead to a happier offseason.
Of course make over 200 mill on a contract extension and zero expectations
Sign me up
Major W. No one has said that about wanting to stay in Utah. Danny, keep that man in Utah
Warriors fans in shambles
He gets traded in a package including Collins. Mark it down.
Good luck utah
Pretty much a repeat of what Jones and other Jazz beat writers have been saying since the season ended. Lauri isn’t really on the market. They’re not shopping him. If a team wants him, they have to hit a grand slam. Otherwise, the Jazz will renegotiate and extend and will build around Lauri.
That’s the right move. He’s in his prime, he wants to be a Jazz player, and they’re not a free agency destination. He has the perfect game next to a superstar. There really is no necessity to move him.
If the Jazz really wanna tank they can find a way to do it but I think they’re gonna ultimately do something similar to what we’ve seen the last two seasons. Their current roster is worse than it was going into the last two seasons though.
If you don’t want to be traded then threaten retirement. Ultimate trump card for a player
He’ll sign the extension to secure the bag and then asked to be traded next season if the Jazz suck
Plenty of star players are initially fine to be part of a rebuild until the media starts piling on them and people start questioning their impact
Hey, if he wants to waste his prime on a rebuilding team for the bag, then that’s just what it is.
Sorry Lauri, AINGE DOESNT CARE! YOU GOING AWAY FOR SOME PICKS!
What is the August 6th date? Eligible for some extension?
I mean Utah is about as close to Finland as nba markets get right?
Utah is the first place to really use him correctly and maximize him. It’s no guarantee another team would be able to do that and he’s gonna be their franchise player making 50 mil a year
Problem is there are like 7 teams who will be worse than the Jazz if Lauri plays 50 games. It keeps them out of the running for a top pick 3 years straight which slows the rebuild pretty badly.
I wonder if they trade for Ingram now and try to make the play in
“I want to be part of the rebuild” just means he has no dog in him or desire to win in playoffs. Just keep collecting a check
What’s the current commonly accepted opinion on Ainge as a GM? He seems so hyper focused on trying to win every transaction and move that he hasn’t put the proper amount of weight into building an actual roster and team/org concept that make sense – be that shedding assets for a rebuild or building a team that can at least theoretically compete.
Good write up. Interested to hear what Tony has to say about Sexton & where he fits in the Jazz plans
Pretty much basic stuff, imo.
Ainge had already put Lauri in the not untouchable but I would take a Godfather offer.
It’s a maybe a cliché but Euro players tend to stick a bit when they are moved in a place, Lauri was an AS in Utah.
After moving from Chicago to Cleveland and landing in Utah.
There is some basic smokescreen in the report because Utah definitely didn’t except Lauri to be an AS, their team is also way too good to fully tank, they’re well coached so they’re try to pivot into developing their player.
Lauri is just in this spot, if he pushed for a move then they would be okay if they got their Mitchell/Gobert package as reported and I don’t think Lauri will do it. They’re okay extending him because they could easily trade him later.
I mean it’s kinda his team. He gets to show out with no expectations and if he adds on to what he did this past season, he’ll get another big bag after this contract. He’s in a great situation
Ainge doesn’t care lol. Utah better tank these next 2 seasons if they smart.
Ur like 26 dawg
Good for him honestly. Get the bag, no expectations, stable living. Some players aren’t destined to achieve immortality and that’s fine.
Ainge and MDJ have been out of talks for weeks, I guarantee anything else over the past 2 weeks has been BS. Ainge was never trading Lauri unless it was for an extremely stupid overpaying package
I like Tony a lot and read his writing. But, these are speculative quotes from Tony and not quotes from Lauri. I’d be far more interested if Lauri himself said something about what he wants.
have a hard time trusting a “star” in his prime that doesn’t jump at the opportunity to compete for a championship if given the option. maybe Lauri isn’t worth a King’s ransom.
He’s gonna get Beal’d
Lauri blink twice if you need help
He wants to be part of a rebuild at his age? What waste. Low expectations
Do people realize just how bad utah was post asb last year???? We will probably be bottom 5 💀
from my understanding lauri wants to do a “rebuild” where he gets max money and low expectation putting up numbers but no expectations to win, which is awesome if you think about it.
Zach Lowe already mentioned this in his latest podcast… Can Utah make up their mind?
Utah’s 2025 first round draft pick is top 1-10 protected. If it falls outside the top 10, it conveys to OKC.
Utah with Lauri is too good to tank, but not good enough to make the playoffs. Standings purgatory.
If Utah wants to bottom out and draft in the lottery for the next 1-3 seasons…. Lauri will be too old by the time these projected high draft picks get experienced enough (ie how long it took Jaylen and Jayson to develop to the players they are today?)
so…. wtf is Utah doing?
>Utah will do whatever they can to get a Top 5 pick in the 2025 draft.
There are a *lot* of teams tanking this season. I don’t see them cracking the top 5 without the lottery going their way.
Never followed Tony but respect his dedication to that goofy ass Twitter avi lol
is he going to sit out 3/4 of the games so they can tank for Cooper
hes scared to leave the state with all that weed out there now