Lauri Markkanen was coming off a down season with the Utah Jazz, which led to a narrative that he was overpaid. With the calendar year about to end, Markkanen has had a resurgence and then some, which has fueled a surprisingly better start than many had anticipated. However, the real twist is that it's not just him that's fueling this excitingly mediocre start for the Jazz.
On "The Game Theory Podcast" with Sam Vecenie, Bryce Simon talked about how Markkanen has led the charge on Utah exceeding expectations this season, but also singled out multiple players that should make the Jazz feel good about what's to come.
"Lauri Markkanen (is) having a great season... I cannot help but love the versatility he shows every time I watch a Utah game in terms of how you can use him as a ghost guy, a ball screen guy, a lob guy. He can get out in transition, he can do a little bit off the bounce. Just his athleticism with shot making is really exciting.
"... With Keyonte George... those two guys along with ideally a Walker Kessler, once he gets healthy next year, and then an Ace Bailey continuing to grow. That Utah team is like a little bit closer to like, hey, do we start making moves to, I don't want to say win now, but maybe we do start growing this thing out. We don't continue to sell things off.
"And I think Lauri having the type of year he's having this year along with the growth of Keyonte George has kind of maybe changed my calculation of where that organization is at right now."
It remains an open question whether the Jazz should keep this core or try to blow up as much as they can to add another golden pick. Regardless of what they do, fans can be excited about the prospect that the team actually has a core to build around,
If the Jazz plan to add to this core, what's their next move?
A pro-tank fan would say the team's next move would be to, well, fill in the blank here. The problem is that the Jazz's core has proven itself to be a little too good at the moment to bottom out for a top pick, although it is only December.
So, if they feel they should see where this goes, the Jazz's next move may be to trade for a quality veteran who can aid a potential playoff push, or wait until free agency to see who on the market could help the most. They will have to resolve Kessler's restricted free agency, but that shouldn't be a problem if we're being truly honest.
The fanbase will definitely not unanimously agree if Utah decides it's best to keep it rolling with this core, but trying to diminish something that's showing progress may be more of a detriment in the long term than a benefit. Time will tell if the Jazz have made the right choice, but at least they are finally seeing something good that has the potential to get much better from here.