The Lauri Markkanen Extension Takes the Summer’s Last Title-Chase-Swinging Target Off the Board
Teams still hoping for a get-an-All-Star-quick scheme, like the Warriors, were after the Finnish forward, but Markkanen instead inked a new extension with Utah that will keep him off the trade market until next summer
Lauri Markkanen has renegotiated and extended his contract with the Utah Jazz to the tune of five years, $238 million. The money matters, but not as much as the timing. This deal makes Markkanen trade ineligible for six months. His decision to sign it on August 7, a day after he was eligible for a new extension, means he cannot be dealt before the February 6 trade deadline, pulling one of the most attractive, ostensibly attainable players off the market next season and out of free agency next summer.
On its face, this makes sense for everyone directly involved. Markkanen won’t ever be the best player on a championship contender, but the accommodating nature of his game makes him significantly more valuable than his résumé suggests. He’s made only one All-Star team and zero All-NBA teams, and he has yet to log a second in the postseason.
Little of that matters. Markkanen, 27, is the ideal complementary star, a 7-foot 3-point shooter who can score in a variety of ways—in the post, coming off screens, in a pick-and-roll—while allowing little ground on defense. He doesn’t need the ball to have a positive impact and can accentuate just about any crowd of teammates. The Jazz’s offense consistently goes from white hot when Markkanen is on the court to lukewarm when he sits. It’s not a coincidence. Over two seasons in Utah, he’s averaged nearly 25 points and 50/40/90 shooting splits.
For all those reasons, news of Markkanen’s signing also creates myriad ripple effects that will be felt around the league, next season and beyond. What’s good news for the Jazz is deflating for any potential trade suitor or club dreaming of spending its max cap space on him next summer. Several teams reportedly wanted Markkanen—the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings would’ve been interesting—but none were more desperate to get him than the Golden State Warriors, a once-terrifying juggernaut that no longer enjoys realistic championship ambitions.
After an unsuccessful bid for Paul George, Golden State pivoted to Markkanen, whose ghost screens, off-ball movement, and outside shot would’ve been a natural fit beside Steph Curry and Draymond Green in Steve Kerr’s fast, methodically unmethodical offensive system. The Warriors reportedly offered a package built around Moses Moody and draft picks, a.k.a. they made an unserious attempt to upgrade next season’s roster. But it’s debatable whether or not Markkanen was the right play for them.
Brandin Podziemski is only 21 years old and coming off an impressive rookie season. Jonathan Kuminga will turn 22 in October and is athletic enough to become a formidable two-way wing. Losing one or both would be a critical hit to Golden State’s long-term future; there’s a chance both will make sizable leaps next year, on a roster that added some quality vets (De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson) this summer. But time is not the Warriors’ friend. None of their promising young players is close to what Markkanen currently is, and it’s a virtual guarantee that they won’t reach their potential before Curry’s reign as a top-10 player ends. Their championship window with Lauri, however slight, would technically be open. Without him, it does not exist.
Markkanen would be great in Golden State. He’s also young enough to thrive in San Antonio, where he could have assisted Victor Wembanyama’s development and then supplemented him when the Spurs become good enough to win a playoff series. Markkanen is a perfect low-maintenance second option who’d be even more efficient than he already is while providing one of the brightest building blocks in league history with cleaner looks than he’d otherwise get. The ceiling on that pair is “best duo in the NBA.”
There are other teams with enough trade assets to have jumped into the fray a few months from now, had Markkanen been eligible to be moved at the deadline. The Miami Heat would’ve been a fascinating destination—a Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Markkanen trio could have thrust them back toward the top of the Eastern Conference standings. I personally want to see the Houston Rockets embrace patience and see how effective their youth movement can be, but if they wanted to accelerate their path, Markkanen would’ve been one of the more convenient ways to do so.
Instead: static. The stakes aren’t as high for the Jazz, but he fits there, too. Utah has little incentive to win right now. With a 2025 top-10-protected pick owed to the Thunder, its eyes should be on the 2025 and 2026 drafts. On the surface, signing superb veterans to long-term contracts makes little sense. But, barring anything comparable to the massive haul the Jazz received for Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell (which included Markkanen himself), keeping Markkanen is a fine course.
There are several buttons the front office can push if it wants to bottom out with Markkanen under contract. Collin Sexton, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson are all productive players who make more sense on a team that would like to win games. Trade them instead. So long as Markkanen is OK with the franchise’s short-term direction, few stars are better suited to enhance a crew of growing prospects. The Jazz should be happy to have an adaptable, potent recent Most Improved Player of the Year on their cap sheet for the foreseeable future. (They also own a ton of picks and swaps through 2029, putting them near the front of the line of any trade that accelerates their own timeline.)
With Markkanen no longer available, some of his wooers may more aggressively kick the tires on Pelicans wing Brandon Ingram. But that market is more narrow thanks to Ingram’s skill set, which can work elsewhere but doesn’t function with the same rhythm Markkanen’s can. Ingram was recently an All-Star but has little postseason experience. He’s also extension eligible and about to become very expensive. For those reasons, most teams that would’ve been in the mix for Markkanen (especially the Warriors) will probably, for now, keep their powder dry.
There’s always a chance that Utah will pivot toward a full teardown next summer, when Markkanen will be 28 years old and on a contract that makes him more appealing to suitors than he was two weeks ago. But until then, with the 2024-25 NBA title up for grabs, any potential contender that once thought Markkanen could be its missing piece is out of luck.
