The 2023 season has not gone according to plan for the Utah Jazz, who are currently 9-17 and sit 12th in the Western Conference standings.
Realistically unlikely to compete for a playoff spot or NBA title in the near future, it would seem as though they would be the perfect trade partner for a team looking to bolster their roster in pursuit of said championship, except team officials had previously made it clear that burgeoning star forward Lauri Markkanen was off limits.
That appears to have changed, per Jake Fisher of Yahoo Sports.
“The Jazz are by no means expected to trade the 7-foot sharpshooter at this juncture.
He has been a true favorite of Jazz officials, sources said. But Utah has indeed left opposing executives with the sense that Markkanen is no longer untouchable in trade conversations, league sources told Yahoo Sports, a tangible change from previous transaction windows.”
While it is understandable that the Jazz would be hesitant to deal the one player on the team that has performed at a consistently high level this season, and is on a team-friendly deal through the next two seasons, it would behoove the team to do so.
Markkanen is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career right now.
He is averaging 23.4 points a game, 8.4 total rebounds a game, and is shooting 48.9 percent from the paint, 39 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.3 percent from the foul line.
He looks like the guy the Minnesota Timberwolves thought they were getting out of the University of Arizona when the team drafted him with the No. 7 pick in 2017.
His value has never been higher, which means what the Jazz receive in return for him will be, too.
The team has a history of acquiring massive hauls for talented big men, as we saw a year ago when they traded Rudy Gobert to Minnesota “for guards Patrick Beverley, Malik Beasley and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, along with guard Leandro Bolmaro, the draft rights to center Walker Kessler and Minnesota’s 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 first round picks and a 2026 first round pick swap.”