Lauri Markkanen‘s offseason fate seemed uncertain all the way up to August 7, when he renegotiated and extended his contract with the Jazz, adding $220MM in new money to the deal, which now runs through the 2028/29 season. Markkanen was the subject of endless speculation before his decision became final, but he tells Tony Jones of The Athletic that he tried to ignore the rumors.
“I think it’s fair to say that I saw the stuff online, but I tried very hard not to pay attention to it. I’m a big believer in what the front office and the coaching staff are doing,” Markkanen said. “I think it’s the people we have around and the environment we have. We have a group of guys that want to get better. I’ve embraced the leadership role, and my family truly enjoys Utah. We have enjoyed our two years here.”
Markkanen purposefully waited to sign his new deal until the point where he can’t be traded this season. The renegotiation means he won’t become trade eligible for six months, and the NBA’s trade deadline falls on February 6.
Utah is in the midst of a rebuilding process and is more likely to be contending for a top-five draft pick than a spot in the play-in tournament. That caused numerous teams to approach the Jazz with trade offers, hoping they might want to unload Markkanen and bottom out completely ahead of a loaded draft.
The Kings reportedly made “significant progress” toward a deal before talks feel apart in July. The Warriors also had serious discussions with Utah, as did the Spurs, who have been interested in acquiring Markkanen since he was a free agent in 2021.
Although any of those teams could offered Markkanen a faster path to the playoffs, he preferred to stay with the Jazz and help turn them around.
“It was a nice feeling to know that a lot of teams wanted you to play for their franchise,” he said. “It was kind of a cool thing to be honest. It tells me that I’ve been able to get a lot better as a player. But I tried not to think about it beyond that. I know that I wanted to come back to Utah, and that’s where my priorities were.”
Markkanen hopes to improve at handling the ball and making plays off the dribble this season, Jones adds. He also wants to become more of a leader for his young teammates, both vocally and with his on-court performance. No matter how many games the Jazz win, Markkanen sees this year as an important point toward building a long-term contender.
“I think it’s important to get game reps that you can’t simulate in practice,” he added. “I think that I can get a lot better, so I want to work on the things that I do well. I want to show these guys by example how to do the right things. I want to play the right way, especially with how coach (Will Hardy) wants us to play. I want to hold myself to a high standard.”
Yea no duh they gave him a max contract lol
He could’ve renegotiated before August 7th and asked for a trade but instead he waited until that date to sign so they couldn’t trade him, seems like more than the money was a priority.
Give him another 2 years and no playoffs he will want out. 26 now he still feels like he has time to be on a winning team turn 28 and he will want to win a championship. jazz better start building winning players around him or he will ask out.
If he stays healthy, he has a good decade ahead of him. Half their roster has a year less of experience. They have 15 1st over the next five years. They probably have a ton of cap space. So, their window is wide open for quite awhile.
Yeah, their books are in good shape. They’re projected to have around $27M in cap space next off season and can create up $52M. They have plenty of movable players with vets like Clarkson and Sexton, expiring deals like Collins and picks to make a move if the right opportunity comes along. With the NBA is these days they could be a playoff team in a season or two
Markkanen looks even bigger than he did last year. That should help his shoulder stay healthy. I think he’ll be consistently good again this year.
As for the contract, it’s a bit higher than I would’ve preferred to pay, but it does keep him on the Jazz for a long time. The Jazz and Markkanen both like each other.
Even if they don’t win right away he’s indicated he’ll be happy. He likes their direction. Plus, it looks like it’ll be a fun team of young guys on the roster this year.
Well Utah is his type if city…
Ummm, Utah is a state bruh.
Salt Lake City the city. Yes I’m aware Utah is a state we know.
Not everyone knows. Every once in awhile players will say it’s a city. I suspect they’re so used to saying the same generic phrases that they don’t even realize what they’re saying half the time. Lol