When the Utah Jazz sold off Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, they did so for the most value possible. If they were to do the same thing with Lauri Markkanen (they're not, last we checked), they would want the same, and after the play he's had, the price would be steep. So much so that a floated return for Markkanen - five first-round picks - seems simply undoable in today's NBA landscape.
Kevin O'Connor floated the idea of the Jazz demanding five first-round picks as a trade return for Markkanen after the season he's had while talking with Esfandiar Baraheni, referencing that Mikal Bridges netted that much while Desmond Bane netted four first-round picks.
It's pretty clear that Markkanen is a league above those two, as he's playing at an All-NBA level while those two round out as pseudo All-Stars at best. That's not a shot at Bridges or Bane, two players that have proven their worth, but Markkanen is the better player who's playing his absolute best basketball right now.
The only problem is, what teams have five first-round picks to trade to the Jazz? In this day and age, a lot of teams have traded away their future for one player. The only teams that have five first-round picks to spare are the ones that don't want a player like Markkanen given their current timeline as a rebuilding team.
The only winning team that has those assets to spare would be the Oklahoma City. Not only would the Jazz not want to help the rich get richer, but the Thunder are at that point where they want to shed big contracts, not add one.
Utah isn't even at the point where they want to trade Markkanen, and even if it hasn't been confirmed, if they went that route, they wouldn't get the package they want for him.
Is that really a bad thing?
There will be plenty of Markkanen trade speculation throughout this season. Especially if the Jazz don't look like a playoff team. However, the common misunderstanding with these situations is that a team like Utah would simply want more assets. They wouldn't at this point. The Jazz would want better assets.
There is such a thing as having too many draft assets at one's disposal. At some point, that will come back to bite a team when they either have to draft players or plan to dangle those assets for a player they want, as teams will take advantage of the many assets at their disposal.
Utah already has plenty of assets and have already made moves to improve said assets rather than making the arsenal bigger. Trading Markkanen simply to get more isn't the best strategy for the team. Plus, even if they pulled the trigger on that, it's more likely than not they would be getting late first-round picks.
The pressure to trade Markkanen may begin to mount as the season goes on, but the Jazz have every reason to hold steady with him even if he wasn't playing as well as he is now.