Lauri Markkanen's unclear trade value was already delved into a few days ago. The Utah Jazz have seen firsthand how good Markkanen is, but that doesn't negate that his most recent season was nothing to write home about, decreasing his trade value. A proposed trade sending Markkanen to the Detroit Pistons further illustrates this.
Detroit Jock City's Cem Yolbulan proposed a trade between the Jazz and Pistons in which the following would occur.
Pistons acquire: Markkanen
Jazz acquire: Tobias Harris, Isaiah Stewart, 2028 first-round pick, 2030 first-round pick
Is this a good deal for the Jazz? With what Markkanen has shown when he's got the green light, of course not. That's trading 25 cents on the dollar for an All-Star big man entering his prime who would do wonders if he were traded to a rising playoff contender in the Eastern Conference like the Pistons.
Harris and Stewart are solid role players, but Markkanen is in a different echelon compared to them. It's not worth downgrading so much talent-wise for two draft assets that likely wouldn't pan out too great. That is all from a talent perpective.
However, because of Markkanen's expensive extension, combined with his poor all-around performance this past season, he is a plausible buy-low candidate in an NBA environment that is as unforgiving as ever regarding albatross contracts.
There could be better offers out there, but because teams may be hesitant to trade for someone like Markkanen with how much he's being paid and for how long, this might not be too far off from what the Jazz could hope to get for the star. That's only if he's actually on the trade market.
The Jazz would only entertain a Pistons trade on certain conditions
The Jazz would only do this if A. they're desperate to get off Markkanen, and B. this was the best deal they could find. While Markkanen would make sense on the Pistons, the Jazz would first try to see if they can get something better.
Being more practical, there's no way Danny Ainge wouldn't start any trade negotiation involving Markkanen with Detroit without mentioning the best young talent available not named Cade Cunningham, and that means the likes of Ausar Thompson, Jaden Ivey, and Jalen Duren would get brought up.
Some may say that because it's unclear what version of Markkanen the Pistons would get, making any demands like that would be delusional. However, even if the Jazz star doesn't fit their timeline, there's no pressure for the team to trade him because they don't have to, no matter how much sense it would make to do so.
Don't be surprised if more trade proposals like this come out going forward. Because no recent intel has emerged about Markkanen's true value around the NBA, along with no confirmation regarding Utah's long-term plans with him, expect hypothetical Markkanen trades similar to this one to get floated more and more in the coming months.