The Utah Jazz are not likely to trade Lauri Markkanen, and that's for a very good reason; he's a Top 20 NBA Player right now and his value is far higher than what a lot of fans want to believe it is. The Jazz are not saying no to trading him, but it would take a deal that rivals the Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell trade to even get the Jazz to consider moving the Finnish superstar.
That means four or five first-round picks and an additional two to three quality young players. Nothing less.
Or so we thought.
Josh Buckhalter of Heavy.com pitched a trade proposal that is so bad, that the Los Angeles Lakers should be banned from making trades for the next two years for punishment. In an idea that can't be serious Buckhalter suggested a trade of Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2029 first-round pick, and a 2030 pick-swap for both Lauri Marrkanen and Kris Dunn.
Hood Schifinio has barely played this year and when he has, he's looked awful. You can talk all you want about his "potential" or his "ceiling" but at the end of the day the Jazz are looking for real talent and if Hood-Schifino isn't looking exceptional as a rookie, why would the Jazz give up their best player for someone with no apparent upside?
If you want Markkanen, and you can't give up more than a handful of picks, you better be willing to offer more than two guys who are riding the bench. Namely Austin Reeves and Rui Hauchimura, as the starting two pieces to any trade. Plus the two first-round draft picks. And that's not all. Those four assets are the starting price you're going to have to give up just to get the Jazz to answer the phone.
Anything less then is going straight to voice mail and then automatically deleted.