3 pros & 3 cons of the Utah Jazz potentially acquiring Zach LaVine
By Matt John
Pro: A Jazz trade reunites Lavine with Lauri Markkanen
LaVine and Markkanen played together on the Bulls from 2018 to 2021. The Bulls didn't achieve much then, but that can be attributed to a lack of direction headlined by poor team construction and coaching. Note that Jim Boylen hasn't had another NBA coaching gig since 2020.
Since then, both LaVine and Markkanen have developed into All-Star players. Now that they have found themselves as players and have experience with each other, who's to say it would be a bad idea to reunite them knowing the damage they could do?
Pairing stars who are familiar with each other's games could prove fruitful. Markkanen is more of the rarer archetype as a player compared to LaVine, but having another efficient scorer at his side could make life easier for one another.
Markkanen has been surrounded by solid scoring personnel since his time in Utah began in 2022, playing around the likes of Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson. Both of them are solid players, but don't consistently at an All-Star level. LaVine brings both consistency and efficiency that those two don't bring on a nightly basis.