Jazz Not Interested In Trading Lauri Markkanen

[cupcakesnake]

Lauri will probably have more value in a couple seasons when the cap goes up and his max extension feels smaller. Lots of teams- especially ones who already have strong playmaking- would love to add an elite finisher (THE FINNISHER) who gives you spacing and rim pressure with size. At 46m this year... that's simply a bit rich for most teams navigating the aprons.

It's really a shame, because Lauri just turned 28. He might not play meaningful NBA basketball until he's in the later stages of his career. He's never been to the playoffs.

[HMFFL]

Lauri Markkanen helps Utah reach the minimum team salary of $139 million for the 2025-2026 season. His $42m is a key part of the team.

[FrodoFraggins]

Lauri Markkanen helps Utah reach the minimum team salary of $139 million for the 2025-2026 season. His $42m is a key part of the team.

Taking on salary is easy. I'm sure it's a lot more than that.

I think Ainge was sure he could boost his value and get a decent haul for him. When he didn't get the offers he wanted, rather than take market value for him he signed him to an overpriced contract.

[Pointgod]

Translation, Danny Ainge couldn’t find a team to bend over in a Lauri trade so he’s going to hold onto his asset and get a worse deal in the future.

[Wolveswin]

Jazz instead of trading Markkanen as distressed asset for weak return (picks), swap him for another distressed asset.

Markkanen for Zion.

Let both have fresh starts. Ainge can gamble that Zion upside can be achieved netting him even more value than Markkanen. Pelicans can get a player more ready to contribute to a team on the hook for success in 25/26 (vs on a tanking team).

[cpower]

Lauri will probably have more value in a couple seasons when the cap goes up and his max extension feels smaller. Lots of teams- especially ones who already have strong playmaking- would love to add an elite finisher (THE FINNISHER) who gives you spacing and rim pressure with size. At 46m this year... that's simply a bit rich for most teams navigating the aprons.

It's really a shame, because Lauri just turned 28. He might not play meaningful NBA basketball until he's in the later stages of his career. He's never been to the playoffs.

at 32 years old he will get paid 53M....as a 2nd option...there is just not a lot of teams that is willing to pay this kind of money , especially teams that dont even have a first option.

[mg]

Lauri Markkanen helps Utah reach the minimum team salary of $139 million for the 2025-2026 season. His $42m is a key part of the team.

Lauri's salary for the next 4 seasons:
$46.4 mil
$46.1 mil
$49.8 mil
$53.5 mil

Unfortunately his play really slipped last season. You could maybe blame it on the "tank" but other guys such as John Collins outplayed him. He will need to prove that he can bounce back and potentially be a 2nd option on a good team. Even then the contract seems a bit high but maybe in another year or two it might be a bit more manageable for some teams as the cap keeps increasing.

Shooting 34% from 3 when that is supposed to be one of your main calling cards was not a good look for him last season.

[Memories]

Is Markkanen okay with spending another year of his prime on a team that is basically tanking?

He was the one that signed the contract with them.

Winning doesn’t matter as much of generations upon generational wealth.

[ChuckChilly]

He'll probably miss 20 games from injuries and then they'll rest him another 15. Hard to assess the value for a player like that, especially on a bad team.

[GiannisAnte34]

The Bucks should throw all their last remaining assets at Lauri. They’d have a legit 3/4/5 to make a push for another Finals

[pace31]

A whole bunch of nothing. Some posturing from the Jazz with that wording, but it's basically "We aren't interested in trading Lauri Markkanen UNLESS you throw us a treasure chest" which I agree after last season why would teams do that and while Lauri is great he's now on a max deal. Seems like fair value would be 1-2 1st rounders + a young prospect + salary filler to a contending team.

Regardless of all of that Lauri and the Jazz should be on the same page. He made a statement when he signed last Summer that he knew a "process" was going on in Utah. I know he made the tanking statement last year and sure from a player perspective they never want to tank, but he knew what he was getting into bed with when he signed the deal last Summer. Also I'm not going to heavily judge a players performance on a team that was actively trying to lose games. If all of a sudden the Jazz wanted to hit the gas and try to win Lauri would start to play well again.

Lauri gets max money and the Jazz hold on to an all-star level player that could be an awesome piece to have if they end up ready to contend in 2-3 seasons. If they aren't there yet they can move him towards the latter part of his deal and his contract will probably look pretty friendly (as long as he's relatively healthy) in a few seasons as contracts continue to balloon.

[SkyHook]

So essentially nothing has changed. Good to know.

[BigJimFinn]

Jazz instead of trading Markkanen as distressed asset for weak return (picks), swap him for another distressed asset.

Markkanen for Zion.

Let both have fresh starts. Ainge can gamble that Zion upside can be achieved netting him even more value than Markkanen. Pelicans can get a player more ready to contribute to a team on the hook for success in 25/26 (vs on a tanking team).

OK, have to do an intervention when comments get this wild.

Lauri is not a "distressed asset" while in Utah. He went from having a great value contract to being clearly overpaid, but there is a simple reason why Jazz overpaid him: they fit perfectly together right now. Lauri loves SLC and SLC loves him. He really values the quality of life and having a stable situation after being moved twice in short order.

Lauri is a clean living family man with Nordic looks, outdoorsy hobbies, a high school sweetheart wife and three kids (youngest was born during last season, which is why he made sure to block a midseason trade). Any wonder he fits as the face of the franchise in UTAH, where the Jazz needed someone the fans can take selfies with while the tanking team on the floor looks awful. He will not play enough games, or well enough (last season he was literally set up to fail) to hurt their lottery seeding. Ainge has no reason to trade him for any package he could realistically get. Even a Top 40 type of guy who is really happy to stay in Utah instead of yearning for beaches and booty calls is a rare find for the Jazz.

Zion is ... someone completely different, diametrically opposite you could say. Having a ready-made personal sponsorship deal would be the only argument for him fitting in Utah.

NOW, as a basketball sicko it is easy for me to say that Lauri should prioritize winning and Ainge should have traded him at peak value 2 years ago.
I would give a kidney to see Lauri playing proper basketball with Nuggets or Spurs or Pacers, but I am also an adult with enough common sense and understanding of business realities to see why things have gone this way.

[Vae Victus]

Ainge screwed up so bad in giving Lauri a max deal when there was little to no reason to pay him that much, compounded by overpaying him an undeserving 30% max. If Lauri hit FA was there any team in cap space truly willing to give him a max?

Best move after not getting any good offers the past two seasons while Lauri is locked up on his sweet cheap deal, is to just wait til he’s an FA and facilitate a S&T to a team that wants him but doesn’t have cap space, thus giving himself leverage. If another team with cap space foolishly throws him a full bag, you just shake your head and move on. Lauri being paid a 30% max utterly obliterates his value as you can see how it’s impossible to trade him for positive value after a down year. The harshness of the 2nd Apron makes teams extremely wary of overpaying players and Ainge basically got caught being greedy in not trading Lauri before his value tanked with the CBA change and a bad season. One could say he was unlucky but that’s why GMs get paid the big bucks to not get caught with their pants down due to changing conditions.

At this point the ONLY way for Ainge to salvage this is to give Lauri superstar touches and feature him 100%, maximizing his usage and with the best shots possible in order to make him look like a viable #2 option on a contender. If Lauri doesn’t show that 2 years ago all star mojo, why would any team trade for him on his current contract.

[tamaraw08]

Jazz instead of trading Markkanen as distressed asset for weak return (picks), swap him for another distressed asset.

Markkanen for Zion.

Let both have fresh starts. Ainge can gamble that Zion upside can be achieved netting him even more value than Markkanen. Pelicans can get a player more ready to contribute to a team on the hook for success in 25/26 (vs on a tanking team).

Aren't both teams trying to tank though?
Both players shine and lead their new team for 36 wins resulting to a low pick next summer.

[Shock Defeat]

He wasted his career in Utah.

[FrobeBryant]

Another example of Ainge holding on to assets way too long only to settle for peanuts when he realizes no one is willing to meet his asking price.

[HMFFL]

Lauri Markkanen helps Utah reach the minimum team salary of $139 million for the 2025-2026 season. His $42m is a key part of the team.

Lauri's salary for the next 4 seasons:
$46.4 mil
$46.1 mil
$49.8 mil
$53.5 mil

Unfortunately his play really slipped last season. You could maybe blame it on the "tank" but other guys such as John Collins outplayed him. He will need to prove that he can bounce back and potentially be a 2nd option on a good team. Even then the contract seems a bit high but maybe in another year or two it might be a bit more manageable for some teams as the cap keeps increasing.

Shooting 34% from 3 when that is supposed to be one of your main calling cards was not a good look for him last season.

His game did fall off.
Some people laughed at Chicago Bulls fans how they handled Lauri. But, to me, he doesn't seem to be the type of man you can build a team around. Making money and making babies seems to be his main focus. Things change when you have kids. Same with Joel Embiid.

[Hugi Mancura]

They made a mistake signing him to the Max. Not to say he's not worth it, I really like him. It just hamstrung their flexibility when he was in and out of the lineup then they just said "**** it" to go full tank with a third of the season left.

A healthy year will change the optics around him. Every team would love to have him if they aren't set at the 4. I know i was dream trading to every team with an iffy PF situation a couple years ago.

I think Ainge tried to trade him before his new contract and none of the deals were very good...? That's the impression that I got based on reports.

"Not very good" seems like it's a "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" situation, especially when Ainge is trying to extract as many pick as possible. Either way, I bet the Finnisher has a bounce back year.

Offers were quite good I think, on the eyes of everyone else than Ainge. And Ainge's opinion is only that matters. Probably right now he also wants same value as what teams offered last summer, but because Markkanen is paid huge amounts of cash and his scoring took a hit he is not worth it anymore. If Utah doesn't trade Lauri now he will be in Utah next 4 seasons. That's not too bad he is good catch and shoot player for widening the court for possible future stars. Utah doesn't need the money anyway. All the other players are playing with rookie contracts anyway.

[Slimjimzv]

This is the NBA version of Brian Regan's skit "I call the hump"

The Jazz shouldn't want the hump.

https://youtu.be/SpBIZgvjWmA?feature=shared&t=20