Lauri Markkanen‘s contract situation was a major story during the offseason. Markkanen and the Jazz chose to renegotiate and extend his contract for four seasons. In addition to having his salary for this season bumped from $18MM to $42MM, Markkanen tacked on another $196MM across four new years.
He told Marc Stein in a Subtack interview that he was relieved to get that done, rather than having increased uncertainty over his future, along with the possibility of being traded.
“Obviously I wasn’t a free agent, but it was more I had the ability to do the contract and kind of had the choice,” he said. “I don’t have to do it, but that was something I wanted to get done to stay with the team.”
The Warriors were prominently mentioned as a possible destination and Markkanen took the trade interest from other teams as a positive. “I think [it means] you’ve done things right — that teams want you. … I was able to kind of zone it out and really wait for my agent for what’s real,” he said.
We have more on the Jazz:
- Markkanen doesn’t want his All-Star appearance to be a one-shot deal, he told Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda.com. “You don’t want to just be a one-time All Star. The goal is always to improve and show the new things you’ve been working on in your game,” he said. “I’m always trying to take that next step in my development, but it all starts with team success. Everything else comes from there.”
- Keyonte George underwent an MRI on his left knee and the results were negative, Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. George has resumed on-court activities and is expected to be available for the team’s game against Sacramento on Tuesday. Isaiah Collier also underwent an MRI that revealed a right hamstring strain. He will be reevaluated in 10 days. Collier was the 29th pick of the draft.
- Lottery pick Cody Williams had his best outing of the preseason on Saturday, Larsen notes. Williams scored 17 against San Antonio after contributing a total of 13 points in the previous three preseason games. He added five rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes.
Markkanen said, “I’m always trying to take that next step in my development, but it all starts with team success. Everything else comes from there.”
Exciting stuff. The Utah Jazz have their own, private definition of “team success”. Markkanen knows the Jazz measure “success” by failure, and that it intends to tank over the next 2 seasons, so that it can draft high. For $250,000,000, he’ll be happy to sit out has many games as asked.
The Jazz and Markkanen were made for each other. A man that hasn’t sniffed the playoffs in his 7 year career meets a team that will pay him $500K game for the next few years to stay home. And the only season ticket holders in North American sport that will pay for it.
Someone’s having a bad day
Somehow the fact that his team made an inquiry on what it would take to trade for Markkanen and the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement has manifested into an immature and petty hatred of the Jazz and Markkanen.
It was a Good move for Utah, a good move for LM and a good move for the Utah fans
Where’s your beef…..oh Warrior fan, clock it
Toad, that’s provably untrue on 2 counts.
I was saying exactly these things here 4 months ago, before any discussion of the Markkanen trade.
First, I’m a long time Jazz fan, lived there in the 90’s, and know how much the fans cared. Ainge has destroyed a very good franchise for no good reason other than a desire to put his name on it. Because it’s a small market, local media and season ticket holders haven’t held him accountable. Yet.
Second, I also happen to be a Warriors fan, but I’m on the record for stronglybopposing a Markkanen trade from the start. Trading away the future is rarely a good idea.
Some people have a funny way of showing their support for their own team.
DS1 , fair to say that criticism doesn’t suggest support. But I feel like the current ownership hasn’t been held accountable.