With the 2026-27 season two and a half months away, give or take, it's becoming increasingly clear that the Utah Jazz's roster is pretty much set pending any future trades, small or blockbuster. Now, we can start thinking about what should go right about this coming season. At the top of the list is Lauri Markkanen.
Because Utah embraced the tank last season, which, mind you, proved to be the right strategy, Markkanen's historic stretch at the start of the season was forgotten pretty quickly. For that alone, fans should expect him to wreak havoc on the NBA.
But it goes deeper than that. As everyone should know by now, Markkanen is not just one of th ebest scorers at his size, but one of the best shooters. That's something that the Jazz used quite a bit last season when Markkanen played. So much so that he led the league in catch-and-shoot field foal attempts per game.
2025-26 Leaders in Catch & Shoot FGA per game + Catch & Shoot eFG%
— Basketball University (@UofBasketball) August 7, 2026
Getting busy off the catch pic.twitter.com/wLbCZPV2n4
And this was when Utah was limiting both the games he played and his minutes. They run plays where Markkanen get catch-and-shoot opportunities because they know it works. Because of that, there's no reason think that it won't work again.
Expect it to be amplified (and potentially better) this season
The only reason why Utah did not go to this more was because they were trying to lose for the past two seasons. This time, it's not only going to be used more, but now Markkanen has more firepower by him than he's ever had as a Jazzman.
Besides the surging Keyonte George, he also has Darryn Peterson and Isaiah Collier, which gives him three quality playmakers right next to him. Even if their shooting efficiencies all vary, they know hot to make the right pass, and should find Markkanen. His three-pointer is such a threat at his size that it should be a mutually beneficial play for both him and them.
Adding to that is the fact that Jusuf Nurkic is one of the NBA's best passers out of the high post for his size, and let's not forget Jaren Jackson Jr. will be playing right next to Markkanen for a good share of their minutes.
All of this points to that we are likely to get the best season we've ever gotten from Markkanen. Everyone knows how good he was, and last season, he sent the league a good reminder about that. Now that nothing should hold him back, he's going to put the NBA on notice by going to his bread and butter as a catch-and-shoot big man everyone in Utah knows he will be.
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