If you didn’t know, the Orlando Magic just traded Desmond Bane for four first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Cole Anthony.
BREAKING: The Memphis Grizzlies are trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/UcQnmHbgZb
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 15, 2025
The question for Jazz fans is, would you have been happy with that type of haul for Lauri Markkanen? The answer would undoubtedly be a yes. Four unprotected first-round picks are a massive haul for a non-all-star in Desmond Bane.
To be more specific about the Desmond Bane trade, here are the picks that Memphis will receive (from Shams Charania):
Orlando sent Memphis the No. 16 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, its 2026 first-round pick (which includes swap rights with the Phoenix Suns or Washington Wizards) and its 2028 and 2030 unprotected first-round selections. The pick swap is top-two protected in 2029.
That trade seems exactly like the parameters the Jazz were looking for last season when we had all the Lauri Markkanen trade rumors happening. The question for Jazz fans is, why haven’t the Jazz gotten an offer like this for Lauri Markkanen? Heck, why didn’t the Magic want to give the Jazz this exact offer for Markkanen? Orlando was in desperate need of shooting, and Markkanen should bring just that, right?
Well, it’s time for a little bit of a reality check with Lauri Markkanen.
Before I get into this, maybe Austin Ainge is going to pull something off and make me look dumb. I would love, absolutely cherish, a chance to have the Jazz make me look like a mouth-breathing, knuckle dragging, finger point typing blogger. Here’s your chance, Jazz.
Anyways, back to the fun thing you were reading about how the Jazz’s best player comes with some imported terms and conditions to his game.
The Offense
The first is that Lauri Markkanen is not a primary ball handler. Every Jazz beat writer and media source let us know all season that Markkanen was working on his game. The result? Lauri Markkanen ended the season shooting 34% from three and 42% from the field. Now, maybe the 28-year-old Markkanen has implemented some aspects to his game that we haven’t seen before, but the reality is that it doesn’t appear to have worked.
There is an implication out there that Markkanen didn’t actually perform well on purpose. Maybe that’s the case, but then that has multiple bad implications. First, do other teams know that? Is an opposing GM, who has access to the internet like all of us, going to listen to the Jazz tell him that Utah’s best player missed shots on purpose? That’s a tougher sell than when I was doing survey telemarketing in college and had to get guys to agree on how well the Viagra worked. (Side note, that wasn’t fun.) Anyways, this means the Jazz find themselves in a dichotomy: a player who either didn’t try hard and underperformed, or tried hard but still underperformed.
Now, the first two seasons for Markkanen in Utah were legitimately great. He was pushing towards a 50/40/90 season each season. However, that is only possible with everything being set up for him. He’s not initiating the offense, but needs to be set up. That’s the difference between him and Desmond Bane. Bane shot 39% from three last season as a primary ball handler. Markkanen does it solely off catch-and-shoots. It’s a big difference.
The Defense
In the three seasons that Lauri Markkanen has played for the Jazz, Utah has ended the season with the following defensive rankings: 2024-25 = 30th, 2023-24 = 30th, 2022-23 = 23rd. This is very reductive, but Markkanen has been a core part of each of these teams. This includes having Walker Kessler on the floor. At what point does that reflect on Markkanen? Individually, Markkanen doesn’t fare better. His defensive box plus-minus on Basketball Reference is consistently negative. At Basketball Index, his defensive Lebron numbers have him as the 12th worst defender in the league. On a side note, that same metric has Collin Sexton as the 3rd worst, and Keyonte George as the 4th worst defenders in the league. Here’s how the Jazz look this season:
How does Desmond Bane fare? With D-Lebron he measures out much better.
And when you go to Basketball Reference, Bane measures out average to good in every defensive metric. It matters and Bane will fit into Orlando’s high-level defense seamlessly. Markkanen might have become the weak link.
The Contract
After two good seasons for the Jazz, Utah decided to give Lauri Markkanen max-level money. Over the next four seasons, Markanen is going to make $46M, $46M, $49M, and $53M. It’s pretty rough considering Markkanen just had a season of surprising underperformance. Aside from that being a huge contract that is already upside-down, it makes it difficult to trade. The CBA is stricter than ever, and to even make a trade, you have to have contracts that match. So, if Utah wants to make a trade, it now has to take on a minimum of ~$41M. It’s tough to do if you're just on the trade machine online, imagine having to talk to another GM and negotiate.
So, here we are. Utah finds itself in the same spot they were in the last three seasons, but in an arguably tougher spot because of this contract. They may be stuck with this contract they’re locked into.
Considering Utah isn’t playing to lose games anymore, that top-8 protected pick next season is feeling like it’s in jeopardy of going to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Yes, Utah is at the beginning of the offseason and could potentially secure a great deal. Like I said when I started this, I hope the Jazz make me look dumb. I would love that. In fact, I hope they use that as motivation. Make me look stupid, Jazz, MAKE ME LOOK STUPID! (Please make me look stupid.)