Lauri Markkanen has been a phenomenal story for the Utah Jazz, but his rise as a Jazzman coincides with the most tragic aspect of his tenure with the team: he's never seen any team success. The only time he's been close was his first year, when he surprised everyone. That's all going to change when he and the Jazz have the chance to do something he's never done: make the playoffs.
That's right. Since coming into the NBA, Markkanen has never played a minute in the postseason. Even worse, the closest he's come in his NBA career was the 2022 play-in, when he played his lone year in Cleveland before being traded to Utah.
Before that, it was Chicago, where it was clear Markkanen was a talented prospect but may have played for the worst possible team for player development. The Bulls never made the playoffs with Markkanen and were never close, as they were pretty directionless (it's nice to see how things have changed).
You know how this Jalen Duren restricted free agency saga has only dragged on? Well, Markkanen went through the same thing with Chicago before Cleveland got him on what turned out to be one of the best NBA contracts, though not until he became a Jazzman.
No one in this league deserves it more than Markkanen
The biggest shame about the Jazz's tank is that it came at the cost of wasting the vastly improved Markkanen for four consecutive years. That means he had to sacrifice potential All-Star and All-NBA teams for the team to get the necessary young talent to build a true long-term contender.
It may have been the right decision for Utah, but that doesn't make the process any easier, especially for someone like Markkanen, who should have had the chance to reap the rewards from the new level he reached.
There's a reason why Utah tried to add more win-now players following his phenomenal first season with the team. They really believed he could have guided them to something more. The only reason why they went the rebuilding route was because their other options dried up.
But now that's all in the past, and now Utah can finally get to see Markkanen and co. deliver on their potential. Better yet, this is only the beginning for them. For Markkanen, it's better late than never, but now he finally gets to see his abilities get put into something worthwhile in the NBA when they've previously only paid off overseas.
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