The Lauri Markkanen Trade Isn’t What We Thought…

The Lauri Markkanen Trade Isn’t What We Thought…

lowry Markin was one of the biggest pieces on the NBA trade market last offseason but then he signed a contract extension Utah that meant he couldn’t be traded until now the Jazz are actively looking for Lowry Markin and trades and in an offseason where a bunch of other stars are also rumored to be available markin is a pretty underrated player as a massive trade piece this offseason so what exactly is the situation in Utah with the Jazz and Markin well last year for the first time in a couple years they really really tanked they haven’t been good in a couple years but last year was the first time where they actively tried to be really really bad to the point that they were getting fined by the league markin barely played most of their best players barely played and it didn’t work out for them they fell in the lottery and they are definitely at a pivot point in terms of where they’re going within this rebuild after trading away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobear a few seasons ago and it’s clear that Markin is very good but his timeline probably doesn’t match up with the rest of the team’s timeline and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon we know that there was interest around the league in trading for him most specifically the Warriors almost traded for him a year ago before waiting they also tried to get Paul George before waiting and then ultimately getting Jimmy Butler mid-season but given that those conversations were had it’s clear that Utah would be willing to trade away Lowry Markin to get some nice new pieces to continue their rebuild because frankly outside of Marketin there’s a bunch of like okay pieces on this roster walker Kesler whatever you think about Kee George but there’s no other real keepers outside of Markin so it’s probably going to be a little bit before they can actually be a good team and I’d also assume that Markin himself would like to maybe win some basketball games at some point rather than just kind of wasting away in Utah for the rest of his prime so it’s clear that the Jazz would be willing to trade Markin and that there would be a market but there are a couple of issues with a potential trade first and foremost you have to have a kind of defensive infrastructure around Markin that would work because presumably if you’re trading for him you would like to either compete or semicompete and you can’t do that well enough if you don’t have a good defensive infrastructure around him he’s not a completely terrible defender but you need a good rim protector alongside him you’re not going to be able to survive with him playing the five very much at all and you need some good wings to make up for his lack of foot speed at times on the perimeter the other problem with trading for him at least in terms of the Jazz getting value in exchange is that he just hasn’t played a whole lot lately like I said they basically benched him for half the season last year and he just signed this big new contract so he’s probably not worth as much now as he was last offseason just because teams haven’t really seen him play all that much lately and it’s not like he’s a guy that has a bunch of AllNBA teams to his pedigree to his resume he’s clearly very good but this isn’t like a superstar kind of player that you are trading for so what are the options out there well first and foremost is one that I’ve seen people talk about a bunch and that is Lowi Markin to the Philadelphia 76ers in this trade construction it would be Paul George and the third overall pick going back to Utah in exchange for Markin and in this scenario the Jazz get another top five pick a higher pick than the one that they have that is their own and they’re going to be able to use those two picks and really start to build something foundational in Utah outside of Lowry Markin and amongst all of these trades the third overall pick in this draft is by far the best trade asset that they are going to get in these deals cuz like I said his value is a little bit lower than where it was last offseason and for Philly this deal makes a bunch of sense for a couple of reasons one Markin is one of the few real differencemaker kind of guys that they could probably realistically get with the third overall pick in this draft there’s been speculation that they would try and trade the third overall pick but it’s more difficult than you’d think to actually get someone that matters and would help you try and contend when you’re trading away a top draft pick just ask the Portland Trailblazers a couple of years ago when they had Dame Liller they were trying to trade the the pick they ultimately used on Scoot Henderson to anybody that would take it and they couldn’t find a piece they felt like was worth it but this is actually something that would work for Philadelphia because Markin fits in both Embiid’s timeline because he can help you win next year and he fits within the younger guys timeline guys like Jared McCain and Tyrese Maxi and then obviously you’re trading away a young guy asset here with the third overall pick i think right now this is one of the more realistic Lowry Markin and trades out there it depends on if Philly wants to trade the pick depends on how much they like Markin alongside Joel Embiid in the front court and of course it depends on if the Jazz think that it is worth it to not only trade market in him but take on the contract of Paul George in exchange for just the third overall pick in this draft which would be potentially Ace Bailey VJ Edgecomb someone like that because even though you would in theory be able to flip Paul George potentially in a year or at the trade deadline for some other assets or maybe even within the same offseason he is arguably one of the worst contracts in the entire league and if you were to try and rehab some of that value you’d have to actually play Paul George which would mean winning games which obviously is not their goal for next season so it’s complicated for each side but I think as market and trades go in terms of contenders it is certainly one of the most interesting the next team that I thought about when I was trying to find Lowry Market and trades was the Minnesota Timberwolves in this trade it would be Julius Randle Mike Connley Rob Dillingham and the 17th pick in the 2025 draft going to Utah in exchange for market first and foremost Julius Randle would have to opt into his contract to make this work we’ve talked about Minnesota trades a bunch already this offseason i’ll put some of those other videos uh in the card at the top of the screen here but essentially this would require Julius Randle to opt in and that would seem relatively unlikely if he knows he’s opting in to just go and play for the Jazz unless the Jazz are like “Hey once you get here we’ll just buy you out we’re not worried about having Julius Randle on the team we would just want him there to to make the salaries work in this trade construction.” You could also reroute Julius Randle to the third team the value here for Utah is Rob Dillingham and it’s that first round pick obviously Minnesota given what they gave up to move up in the draft to get Dillingham last year does not want to give up on this guy so early I would assume but Markin is a pretty good fit for them in the front court and I don’t think the 17th overall pick is something that they are really valuing all that much in exchange for someone like Markin have that defensive infrastructure there that we talked about earlier with McDaniels on the wing Gobear in the front court and that core group of Anthony Edwards McDaniels Markin and Gobear would be really really formidable and give them a little bit of extra boost of offense that they desperately need that Randall kind of was at times for them this year but I think Markin would fit better along their timeline better as a floor spacer and would kind of fill the Carl Anthony Towns role at least offensively but he’s significantly cheaper and potentially a little bit of a better fit defensively depending on how they use him there in Minnesota i’m not sure how excited they would be to add marketing i don’t know how much of a target he he is for them but at least from a salary and asset perspective they do have a deal they can put together to make this work if Utah would be interested in essentially Rob Dillingham in a mid-first round pick in exchange for market that might not feel like a lot minnesota might think it’s too much because they probably really value Dillingham and you have to really take into account does Utah need another guard like do they need someone else to go and take a ton of shots for them is Dillingham really a foundational piece a lot of moving pieces here but I think it is a construction that would be interesting again if Randall agrees to go to Utah and then maybe be bought out he has to opt into the contract a lot of things happening there the next team that I thought about though was the Portland Trailblazers team that I’m really intrigued by what their plan could possibly be this off seasonason because they were trending up towards the end of the season in a way that I don’t think a lot of people noticed and I think they are potentially in play for a nice little mini leap next season maybe even a playin team maybe even just an outright playoff team because they’ve got some really good young pieces and Markin would be the kind of offensive boost that they would need they’ve got a big contract in DeAndre Aton they’ve got another little contract here in Matis Tyel and the 11th overall pick in this draft could those three assets together be enough to get Utah to part from Lowry Market and that might not seem like a lot but again his value is probably lower than it was last offseason and that gives Portland a star to build around you’ve got a bunch of other complimentary pieces young pieces that are continuing to grow and you don’t really need DeAndre Aton anymore you’ve got Donovan Klingan you’ve got some other bigs there that marketing could play really well alongside and as a semifoundational piece I really like the concept of Lowry marketing in Portland there’s been some other trades out there for Portland like maybe them adding someone like Damon Sabonis that kind of trade construction to me makes a lot of sense for a Portland team that doesn’t just want to try and win 35 games again next year wants to try and make a little bit of a step forward and this isn’t all that much to be giving up in exchange for a player in marketin that is not only young fits their timeline but also is signed long term so they have to worry about him possibly leaving in free agency for Utah you’re probably not all that excited about DeAndre Eaton maybe you try to flip him to another team t Style is fine it’s really about the 11th overall pick they probably ask for more draft compensation here as a result but the upside for them is it immediately gets them out of the market in contract or at least it would next offseason cuz both of these deals Aon and Tybles are expiring deals and they sign Mark into the contract once they would lose him in free agency this offseason but also just to retain the asset and then move him for something else and that’s exactly what they’re doing here while also getting out of the salary so it’s a little bit more beneficial than some of the other trades that we have talked about those to me feel like the three most realistic teams in terms of L market and trades but you can see some of the difficulty in actually finding a team there’s a couple of different things that have to come together for this to really happen but I think that it ultimately could be a mystery team there’s a bunch of teams that actually could put together a realistic trade structure in exchange for Larry Marin and this is a domino that most people just are not talking about this offseason that could really change a bunch of things as we go into next

Lauri Markkanen was one of the biggest pieces on the NBA trade market last offseason… but then he signed a contract extension in Utah that meant he couldn’t be traded… until now!
The Jazz are actively looking for Lauri Markkanen trades and in an offseason where a bunch of other stars are also rumored to be available – Markkanen is pretty underrated as a massive trade piece this offseason.

#markkanen #laurimarkkanen #markkanentrade