Report: Lauri Markkanen Wants To Remain With Jazz

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Lauri Markkanen wants to remain with the Utah Jazz. 

Markkanen has one year left on his contract. He can sign an extension in August. 

“It seems unlikely this would happen, because Markkanen is by all accounts happy in Salt Lake City and believed to be interested in securing a future there, but I shouldn’t have completely dismissed the possibility that he could be unsettled by all the recent reports that his team entertained the possibility of trading him,” Stein wrote. “This goes for any player realistically.

“Purely from a common sense standpoint, Utah almost certainly could command more in a trade for Markkanen once he is signed to a new long-term deal, which can’t happen before Aug. 6. Yet it’s likewise true that the Jazz could decide to extend Markkanen once they are eligible to do so and keep building around him. Both of those scenarios are generally seen around the league as more probable than a trade in the short-term, given that Markkanen currently holds an expiring contract at a mere $18 million, but it was errant to advance the idea that all the recent chatter has zero downsides.”

The San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings have reached out to the Jazz about a Markkanen trade. 

Markkanen is one of the best players in the NBA. He averaged 23.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks in 2023-24 for the Jazz while shooting 48.0% from the field, 39.9% from 3 and 89.9% from the free-throw line. 

Markkanen has career averages of 18.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.5 blocks with the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Jazz. He won the 2022-23 Most Improved Player of the Year Award with Utah. 

“The frenzy to try to pry Lauri Markkanen away from the Utah Jazz appears to have calmed for the moment,” Stein wrote. 

There’s growing skepticism leaguewide that Jazz executive Danny Ainge will actually move on any Markkanen deal, per NBA insider Anthony Slater of The Athletic.