Lauri Markkanen is unhappy with the recent moves made by the Utah Jazz

While there are a lot of fans who are on board with the tank that the Utah Jazz implemented, it should always be stated that losing on purpose is not the way to develop a winning team or culture in the NBA. It's one thing if you have a bunch of young players and you decide to focus on obtaining rookies, it's another thing when you have a Top 20 player in the NBA on your roster. If the Jazz's best players were Walker Kessler and Keyonte George, then yes, tank.

That's not the case, however as the team's best players are Collin Sexton and NBA All-Star Lauri Markkanen. Markkanen is doing his best to keep a brave face on but this is now twice in as many seasons with the Jazz that he's had a promising team, only to have it ripped away from him for a preferable draft spot.

It's not the best idea to upset your star over, in the eyes of some, needless tanking. Markkanen seems over it, but it upset him pretty badly. Badly enough that he told a Finnish outlet just how upset he was about the decision to tank. Speaking to Finnish news agency Yle (and an assist from Google Translate), Markkanen went into detail about how he felt about the trades and

Original Finnish 
"Urheilijana yrittää tehdä parhaansa, ketä tahansa rinnalla sitten on. Itseluottamus on sillä tasolla, että voi voittaa joka ilta. Tässä kohtaa uraa on tottunut siihen bisnespuoleen, että kavereita voi lähteä rinnalta. Se toki harmittaa, kun heihin on ehtinyt tutustumaan."


"Ymmärrän pidemmän kaavan, ja meille on tullut paljoa nuoria kavereita. Kilpailijana haluan voittaa nyt, joten se turhautti hetkellisesti, Markkanen myöntää."



Google Translated
"As an athlete, you try to do your best, no matter who is next to you. The self-confidence is at the level that you can win every night. At this point, the career is used to the business side, that you can leave your friends. Of course, it's sad when you've had time to get to know them."

"I understand the longer formula, and we have had a lot of young guys. As a competitor, I want to win now, so it was momentarily frustrating, Markkanen admits."

This mirrors what he said in February to the Desert News, where he lamented the trading of several close teammates.

“It’s part of the business and you go through it every year. But I don’t think you get used to it. You’re good friends with those guys, and you obviously want the best for them and for their careers, but at the same time you want to spend as much time with them as possible.”

With Markkanen in his prime and on a team that isn't worried about him in the slightest, it seems to me and others that a divorce is coming soon. If the goal isn't to make moves this offseason to push for the playoffs, then the call to trade Markkanen has to be made. He's young, only 26 but he's turning 27 in a few months. This is his prime. This is when he's supposed to be in the playoffs, showing up and showing out.

It makes no sense to ask him to wait two or three more years as you continue to chase after rookies, only for him to be a out of his prime by the time you want to compete and no longer have the same trade value. The Jazz can't keep farming for draft picks and keeping Markkanen happy. Eventually, you're going to have to pick one or the other.