Change is the co-pilot for the NBA right now as teams are readying up for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. For Utah Jazz player Lauri Markkanen, change may be the only thing on his mind. There’s no doubt that the Utah Jazz are in the building stage of things as they are in the bottom five, but there’s nowhere to go but up. One of those changes that might help them move forward is the trade of Lauri Markkanen.
Lauri Markkanen Is Rocking It With The Utah Jazz
Markkanen has done a lot for the Jazz. For example, on November 18th of his 2022-23 season, he scored 38 points in a win over the Phoenix Suns. Then, at the end of December, he sunk nine three-pointers in a win against the Detroit Pistons.
The next year, in January, in a game with the Houston Rockets, he had a great night’s score of 38. This led him to his first NBA All-Star game for the Western Conference in February. In late April, he was named the NBA Most Improved Player with a record of 28 double-doubles when he played in 66 games.
At the beginning of this year, Markkanen was named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week. As of today, his future with the Utah Jazz is in question. The team has expressed interest in training him as he has entered the last year of his contract or maximum extension.
Our boy here was born in late May of 1997 to a very athletic family. Nicknamed “the Finnisher,” his impressive career isn’t just with the Utah Jazz.
Lauri Markkanen is the son of basketball players Pekka and Riikka Markkanen and has an older football-playing brother, Eero Markkanen. He started his hoops career in the Finnish second-tier league before coming to the United States, where he became an Arizona Wildcat in college basketball.
From there, he moved up to the 2017 NBA draft for the Minnesota Timberwolves and then the Chicago Bulls. He later moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers before making his way onto the Utah Jazz court.
The Utah Jazz could try to extend Lauri while building a roster around him or trade him for the upcoming season.
Lauri must feel like the flavor of the day as the San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Miami Heat, and Golden State Warriors have expressed interest in him playing for them. Each of these teams has their reasons for trying to get him.
These aren’t just playground rules where you pick big hands, Jimmy, for your team. Lauri could be looking to play in an expiring contract. There are also salary implications and potential extensions.
Some reports have been that the Jazz have opened discussions with the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges. That didn’t work out, as he was traded and went to the New York Knicks.
Markkanen could be heading for a higher purpose if he is traded and goes to the Warriors, Heat, Spurs, or Kings, as all those teams either made it to the playoffs or were tipping on the edge of making it.
Sometimes change is good, but no matter what, Markkanen will be fantastic where he goes. He could have been a barber, a veterinarian, a musician, or joined the Marines. Right now, we have him as the 27-year-old Utah Jazz player who averages 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds and is just shy of fifty percent shooting in the arc and beyond the arc at 40 percent.
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