The inaugural day of the NBA trade season has hit the league, and Justin Zanik and Danny Ainge are already in the headlines. While the Utah Jazz is extending contracts for the general manager and staff executives, some potential A-class players might not be ‘untouchable’ anymore.
Digging deeper into the topic, one thing is for sure: huge speculation looms over whether Jazz will qualify for the playoffs or not. Utah Jazz are the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference with 9-16. Although the franchise is on a two-game winning streak, it has lost 16 of the first 25 games this regular season. Hence, Utah’s front office is susceptible to a lot of calls to assess its willingness to trade Lauri Markkanen.
League personnel believes Lauri Markkanen is no longer untouchable and Utah would be willing to listen to trade offers, per @JakeLFischer
League personnel believes Sacramento, Atlanta and OKC would show interest in Markkanen
(Via https://t.co/JaNYs4G7cB) pic.twitter.com/KsSAHA0R91
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 15, 2023
The Finnish big man is no doubt an elite scorer for the franchise, given his record-breaking first season with the Jazz. The 7-foot sharp shooter seems to be the only deal that Jazz can encash to witness a youth moment to fully rebuild. As per Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, “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 the franchise might not be willing to trade the player right away, the team’s front office is curious to ‘listen.’ Jazz seems to follow the same pattern as they did for trading Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 26-year-old is running on a $67,470,906 contract with the franchise, making approximately $17.3 million in the 2023–24 season, as per Sportrac. The question is, on what grounds does the team need to make changes?
Where does the Utah Jazz need to improve this season?
In his initial season with the Jazz, ‘The Finisher’ emerged as an All-Star player. The team was hopeful of entering the Western Conference finals and was therefore engaging in talks with the Portland Trailblazers to trade in a potential All-Star-caliber point guard. As it turns out, the trade talks with Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday have reached a standstill, as the dream now doesn’t seem achievable.
However, with the trade of ‘Magic Markkanen,’ the franchise will have to carry out a star shift in its strategy. The Utah Jazz might find solace in trading on any of the veteran players, as disclosed by Fischer. The potential prospects are Jordan Clarkson, Kelly Olynyk, John Collins, Collin Sexton, and Talen Horton-Tucker.
If we talk about the probability, then it seems highly unlikely for the franchise to enter the finals. The foremost reason for this is that over the last 10 seasons, only four Western Conference teams have begun the year 9-16 and then skyrocketed their performance to finish in the top 10 of the regular season standings.
While the Oklahoma City Thunder is trying to place a deserving bet on the player, it now depends on Jazz whether they have accepted their fate or will play their game and try to improve their rankings. Two teams seem to be highly interested in the player, apart from OKC. The Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks might also throw in their end of the deal to secure a better chance to make it to the playoffs.