One thing is clear. Lauri Markkanen is staying with the Utah Jazz unless an interested suitor is willing to give up pretty much every single possible asset they have. That's why, on paper, the Oklahoma City Thunder would be the perfect trade partner.
Even as one of the NBA's best teams, they have so many assets at their disposal that it seems unbelievable that they would use them all. That's why getting someone like Markkanen would be of good use to them and why the Jazz would potentially be interested in a deal with them.
Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz proposed the trade below, which would send the Jazz a few young players as well as several draft picks, including one of their own, in exchange for Markkanen.
Thunder receive: Markkanen
Jazz receive: Nikola Topić, Ousmane Dieng, Kenrich Williams, 2025 first-round pick (via Utah Jazz), 2027 Thunder first-round pick, 2029 Thunder first-round pick, 2026 Thunder second-round pick, 2027 Thunder second-round pick, 2028 Thunder second-round pick
Swartz also explained why the Jazz would pull off a trade like this.
"The Jazz would be going all-in on a rebuild—a smart strategy in front of what projects to be loaded draft classes in 2025 and 2026. Utah gets its own top-10-protected 2025 first-round pick back from OKC along with two additional unprotected first-round picks and three future second-rounders.
"Topić will likely miss the entire 2024-25 season due to a partially torn ACL but may be the best pure point guard in the 2024 draft class. Dieng, 21, was the No. 11 overall pick in 2022, and Williams could be flipped to a contender for additional draft capital."
Why this trade does not work for Utah
The Jazz could always use more draft picks in their rebuild, but they will likely want draft picks that are more likely to pan out. They send Markkanen to the Thunder, who are not only good but are so young that they have yet to reach their peak, they become so good for the next decade that none of those picks become useful assets.
That's precisely the problem. The Thunder have a ton of assets that they could use in a trade to add more talent to what they already have. However, the Jazz shouldn't get first-round picks just for the sake of getting them.
If the Thunder were willing to offer the assets they got from the Clippers in exchange for Paul George, knowing where they are at the moment, then the Jazz would likely be more receptive in trade talks. While it would be nice for the Jazz to get the pick that they sent to the Thunder for Derrick Favors all those years ago, since that's top-10 protected, and the Jazz project to be worse, they may keep the pick anyway.
File this trade under: What the Jazz want for Markkanen, but not how they want it.
Grade: C-