SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - DECEMBER 15: Lauri Markkanen #23 of the Utah Jazz shoots over P.J. Washington #25 of the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of a game at Delta Center on December 15, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - DECEMBER 15: Lauri Markkanen #23 of the Utah Jazz shoots over P.J. Washington #25 of the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of a game at Delta Center on December 15, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
If you’re the Utah Jazz and you think that it’s likely you will trade the most important asset you have on the books–star forward Lauri Markkanen–in February at the NBA trade deadline, how would you be handling that here in December? If you want to maximize value, of course, you’d make it quite clear that you have no intention of trading away Markkanen.
Later, you’d say you’re still not interested in dealing him away but if … just if … you did, it would be at a very high cost to the acquiring team, indeed. Then, as time passes, you’d gather up teams that appear willing to make serious offers and see how you can push those offers a bit higher. When early February hits, you make the call on whether to go through with a deal.
Word that the Jazz are not shopping Markkanen, then, should be of little surprise. It doesn’t mean that won’t change.
“It’s too early in the process to know,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “They like him, they want to keep him but they have other motivations, too. For everybody else, he is the unicorn here on the trade market. When you’re talking about the big fish that could be out there, he would be the one with the least risk.”
Lauri Markkanen Trade Market: Still on Backburner
So that is where the NBA trade deadline situation on Markkanen stands now: He’s on the backburner, but there are plenty of eyes on him. Teams are hopeful that the Jazz’s “motivations” in other areas will change their stance on Markkanen now.
The main motivation is their draft pick, which they are very eager to protect. It’s protected for the Top 8 now, but if it is No. 9 or below, the Jazz must send it to the Thunder. Markkanen has played so well–he is averaging a career-high 27.8 points–that the Jazz have been winning more games than they’d like. Moving Markkanen can help fuel a Jazz tank job.
Of course, they do not have to move him. Markkanen missed 22 of the final 26 games last season with a variety of excuses–er, reasons–lower back, ankle, personal reasons, illness, conditioning, and, finally, a knee injury. They could play that game again, but the Jazz were fined by the league for sitting a healthy Markkanen in the second half, so there’s risk there.
Moving off Markkanen has the double benefit of allowing the Jazz to keep collecting assets while losing enough to keep their 2026 pick without having to risk punishment from the league.
NBA Trade Factors Include Health, Money
Now, if the Jazz were to do that, they could reap a sizable package in return. It would not be an easy deal to pull off, given the fact that Markkanen is on a new, four-year, $196 million contract extension that kicked in this season. Markkanen will make $46 million this year, and even if you accept that some of the injuries he had last year, which limited him to 47 games, were concocted by the team despite him being healthy, Markkanen has still struggled with injuries in his career.
He has missed one-third of the 711 games he could have played in his nine NBA seasons.
Those factors work against Markkanen’s trade value for the Jazz, but they’re relatively minor compared to the rest of the NBA trade market.
“You can find a lot bigger warts on some of the other guys out there who could be on the market, you know, if it’s Trae Young or Anthony Davis or even Giannis (Antetokounmpo),” the GM said. “Not all those guys are going to be traded, but they’re old or injured or a bad fit. Lauri has some red flags but he is still in his prime and having his best year.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Heat
GettyGiannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks is defended by Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat.
Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons With Potential Lauri Markkanen Interest
Who could be involved in a Markkanen pursuit? It won’t be easy to tell unless and until the Jazz soften their position on him. The Pistons have been named consistently as a good fit, and while it is unlikely the Spurs make a trade because they like their roster, a deal for Markkanen could be a risk worth taking.
The Heat would be an ideal landing spot, too, the kind of scoring big man who would finally be a fit next to Bam Adebayo. But Miami’s list of assets is currently in limbo until the NBA makes a decision on whether the Heat can trade Terry Rozier’s contract (he’s under a gambling indictment) and whether the Heat can get draft relief for the pick they traded for Rozier.
The Warriors and Lakers are two teams desperate to add win-now pieces, and Golden State’s affinity for Markkanen has been long established. But neither has the combination of roster pieces and draft assets to make something work. “Both of those teams, they’ll have to think smaller or take a bigger gamble if they make a trade,” the GM said.
Expect Lauri Markkanen to Return to NBA Trade Rumor Mill
Perhaps a surprise team is lingering–Indiana, for example, has been bubbling up as a team willing to take a big swing with an eye on Tyrese Haliburton‘s eventual return. Portland, too has the youth, picks and interest in Markkanen to make things work.
The Rockets have earned some mention, too, though like the Spurs, they value their young pieces highly. Houston does have the draft assets to bend Utah’s interest.
The Jazz may not be shopping Markkanen now. But it’s mid-December. There will be plenty of time for that to change. “You’ll hear his name again, at least he’ll be getting talked about,” the GM said.