We may have seen the last game Lauri Markkanen will ever play for the Utah Jazz. It's very possible that the Jazz are going to blow this thing up and trade off their best players for draft assets because that's all the NBA knows how to do to build a winner. The team can't lose enough games with Markkanen on their roster, and they know it.
Plus, he's been very vocal about being unhappy with what the Jazz have been doing the last two years. The man dubbed The Finnisher is not happy with the unnecessary tanking and fans agree. But that doesn't mean that Danny Ainge cares. After all, he won an NBA title 16 years ago, so clearly he's the man to lead the Jazz, right?
Sarcasm aside, the Jazz may still trade Markkanen, while they were given the Golden Goose of trade package returns when they traded Donovan Mitchell for Markkanen, Collin Sexton, and others, the Jazz have squandered the duo.
They're getting older and the Jazz are doing everything possible to get worse, so that means trades are possible. Our sister site Piston Powered suggested that the Pistons keep an eye on the Jazz's situation so that they may go after Markkanen in the offseason.
In their article, they rightfully acknowledge how hard it'd be to land Markkanen and suggested a starting bidding price of two NBA draft picks, one for sure a first-rounder, and Jaden Ivey. Ivey does nothing for me, he's a guy who scores a lot of points because he's a mediocre player on a bad team. He's a point guard who can't shoot efficiently from deep and is bad on defense.
As for the picks, a first-rounder is nice and all, but there was a hypothetical trade thrown out with Markkanen going to the Houston Rockets and getting back Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun in the trade, among other things. If the best starting offer you can do is Ivey, a first-round pick, and another unspecified draft pick, I think we'd have to pass.