It only took 1 game for Lauri Markkanen to prove the Jazz right again

The EuroBasket tournament is going through its friendlies right now, and the Utah Jazz have some good representation in Lauri Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkic. In the former's case, it took him no time to establish that he is unquestionably a star. In so doing, Markkanen proved that the Jazz are right to believe that their best course of action is to keep him.

Markkanen's numbers in Finland's friendly (preseason) matchup against Belgium were nothing short of spectacular. The Finnisher put up 48 points on seven triples to go with nine rebounds and three steals. He left nothing to interpretation: he's a star.

Because of the season he just had, some doubt has been elicited about whether Markkanen can still perform at an All-Star level in the NBA. While EuroBasket may be different from the NBA, the Finnisher played like someone who had something to prove when he was on the floor.

This makes the Jazz look smart because every single indication has been that their plan is to keep him long-term. There's a strong narrative that the Jazz entering more of a transitional period makes a Markkanen trade feel all the more inevitable.

However, the one refutation to all of that is that even if Utah wanted to make a move like that, there's no guarantee they could get back the same value for the star. It's not that trading Markkanen doesn't make some sense on Utah's part, but rather that they would likely sell him off for much less than what he is worth if they went that route, so that's why they won't.

Lauri Markkanen's resurgence should make Jazz all the more fun to watch

Jazz fans have seen what Markkanen looks like when he's at full throttle for two seasons. They didn't get it last season because Utah was all-in on the tank, but the narrative now is that they don't do the same thing, which should pave the way for Markkanen to return to form.

Even if Markkanen isn't a franchise player, he is still a super fun player to watch when he's got it going. The Jazz are still going to stink without question, but Markkanen regaining his All-Star form should make them a lot more bearable to watch.

That's what Utah should hope for. A team that is an exciting product even if it won't lead to too many wins right away. Fans don't want to watch stars be shelved because the team wants to lose - that's played a role in that aforementioned narrative - so seeing Markkanen not be shackled next season should be one of the most exciting subplots in a season the Jazz are expected to lose plenty.