The Utah Jazz have not wavered in the slightest from their stance that Lauri Markkanen will stick around with the team. While it's understandable that the team doesn't want to part ways with its only proven star on the roster, if they stick to their word, Markkanen's sad streak of missing the playoffs will only continue.
Markkanen is entering his ninth NBA season, and he has yet to make the postseason. The Jazz star has played in 450 NBA games total, which is good for the 15th most among players in NBA history in terms of games played and having never made the postseason. If the Jazz miss the playoffs again, he could rise as high as seventh on that list.
Well before this season even starts, it has been clear for quite some time that the Jazz will be among the worst NBA teams. More than that, it may be a year or two before they start winning some games, which could only vault Markkanen even higher on that list over the coming years, and that's if he remains in Utah.
Many may potentially come to the wrong conclusions about this, questioning how effective a ballplayer the Jazz star really is. It's true that despite his efforts, his teams have never achieved anything and haven't come close. However, with more context, it has become clear that his failure in this regard is hardly his fault.
Markkanen is a victim of circumstance
Bad luck has followed Markkanen from the very beginning. Before he blossomed into a star as a Jazzman, he showed his clear-as-day potential when he first entered the NBA, but sadly started his career in the wrong situation with the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls never quite figured out how to utilize Markkanen, and even worse, they never had a clear direction of where they were going in the four years he was there. So while he looked like he had the talent to become something special, he never quite figured it out in part because Chicago couldn't figure out the best way for him to thrive.
Then came his brief stay with Cleveland. Markkanen didn't dominate with the Cavaliers, but he was a valued player on a team that came within inches of making the playoffs. In fact, in the game with the highest stakes of his career, Markkanen did his part, though it wasn't enough.
And then, of course, came his ascension with the Jazz. But unfortunately, him proving himself to be an unlikely All-Star coincided with a Jazz team that gradually became worse with each passing season. Odds are, even if Markkanen is primed to bounce back from last season, it won't change the Jazz's place in the Western Conference.
It is a shame that Markkanen hasn't seen his skills translate into one minute of NBA playoff action, but he must have known what he was getting himself into when he signed that extension with the Jazz last year.
Hopefully in due time, his abilities will get him to the postseason. The lingering question is if he will be a Jazzman if and when he does.