A current Houston Rockets rumor may be the perfect trade for Lauri Markkanen

The Utah Jazz could look radically different in the span of four months. With the NBA Draft on the horizon in July, and the team teetering between contending and rebuilding, the team will ultimately have to make a choice. Go all in on some talent to help this core win now, or trade practically everyone who is 25 and older and start a full tank.

The Jazz are going to have to decide eventually which way to go, as it's becoming unfair for everyone involved to deal with the uncertainty. Guys like Lauri Markkanen want to go to the playoffs, but may not get to do so in Utah if the team doesn't commit to him. Likewise, the team may never get the truly talented rookies if they keep settling for picks at the tail-end of the lottery.

If the Jazz is serious about building through the draft, they're going to have to part ways with Markkanen, as he's too good to have a true losing squad. Plus, he'll eventually leave anyway when it becomes obvious the Jazz isn't serious about winning.

And normally, that idea haunts me. Losing Markkanen isn't ideal, at all. Whether it's for picks and players or not. Markkanen is truly that good and the team really could use him. There just hasn't been a trade package that would get me excited for trading the Finnisher.

Until now, however.

According to Tim MacMahon, the Houston Rockets are not looking to wait around and build a team slowly. They want to compete and compete now and are willing to trade young players to make it happen. MacMahon even suggested that Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green could be traded sooner rather than later.

Should the Jazz trade Markkanen to the Rockets for Sengun and Green, that would be a trade worth making. Granted, it wouldn't just be Markkanen, and it's likely the team wouldn't get draft picks back, but you could probably do a trade that sees Markkanen, Collin Sexton and maybe even Jordan Clarkson go over for the duo.

You'd have to get creative to make the money work, and you may need to send over a prospect on a smaller contract, probably Brice Sensabaugh, but the potential of a trade exists.

While Green has been up and down in his career, he's got some upside, but the real get would be Sengun. he's one of the best centers in the NBA and his arrival would really give the Jazz a foundational piece to build around. It may mean that the team moves on from Walker Kessler, but hopefully, that wouldn't be the case.

This would absolutely go hand in hand, however with trading away other major names like John Collins. So there could be a scenario if Sengun works on his three-point shot, where he and Kessler share the court at times.

Regardless, this is the baseline for what I'd want back for Markkanen.