The indications have been the same since 2024: the Utah Jazz plan to keep Lauri Markkanen. As for the justification for that stance, one would think it's because Markkanen has been on a historic tear. However, one key reason a trade may not happen is something that's not getting enough attention: Markkanen is expensive.
And not just expensive in the sense of what he would cost an interested suitor, but that teams wouldn't be too thrilled to pay him what the Jazz are paying him. ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel confirmed this when discussing the prospect of a Markkanen trade.
"Markkanen's value has taken a hit as a result of his cap figures increasing drastically, as few teams have the ability to pursue him at $46.3 million this season. This is currently viewed as one of the worst contracts in the league strictly from a numbers standpoint, as Markkanen is definitely a talent who could help a lot of contenders right now," Siegel wrote.
Paying that much for someone who is undoubtedly a difference-maker but has never been considered a surefire superstar is a bigger risk than people think. Teams may be more than willing to absorb a deal like that if Markkanen were closer to the end of his deal, but because he just started the first year of a four-year contract. By the last year of his deal, he'll be owed over $53 million.
That's a lot of long-term money to pay.
So then why were the Jazz willing to give that to him in the first place? Because, besides how good he is under their system, they have the long-term cap flexibility to do so. He is the only Jazzman who is on their books for the foreseeable future.
Any interested suitor likely wouldn't have that luxury if they wanted the Jazz star.
The Jazz may not reverse their stance on Markkanen for this reason
Many have laughed at the idea that Utah's plans are to keep Markkanen because on paper, it would make sense for them to trade an All-Star big in his prime. However, the Jazz would inevitably ask for the farm for Markkanen on top of the kind of money any suitor would have to inherit if they agreed to a trade.
That's why it might not be too ridiculous to assert that, yeah, Markkanen is staying a Jazzman no matter what. It will be tough enough to find a package that Utah's front office would deem suitable for him, but teams may be reluctant to pay the man that much money, even if the Jazz were to come down on their price tag.
Keeping Markkanen will likely divide fans, as no one knows how that decision will impact the Jazz's future, but if Utah didn't think that sticking with him was an option in the first place, they never would have paid him in the first place. Time will tell whether they chose right in this case, but whether the fans like it or not, it's becoming harder to believe he'll be somewhere else in the near future.