The Utah Jazz continue to have tanking ambitions in the Western Conference, but that's harder to accomplish with an All-Star caliber forward like Lauri Markkanen. That's the exact reason why there was a belief that the franchise could trade their star to the Golden State Warriors during an intruging period in late July/early August.
Instead of trading Markkanen to the Warriors, Danny Ainge and the Jazz chose to recommit to the 27-year-old despite it seemingly going against their rebuilding plans. Markkanen was only supposed to make $18 million this season, but Utah used their salary cap room to bump that up to $42.2 million and then provide him with a four-year, $195.9 million extension.
The Jazz may be regretting not trading Lauri Markkanen to the Warriors
Retaining Markkanen was always going to collide with the franchise's rebuilding goals, so the Jazz recently took matters into their own hands in a move that's now hit their back pocket. The NBA announced on Wednesday that they have fined Utah $100,000 for violating the league's player participation policy.
The Jazz were fined for not making Markkanen available for their game against the Washington Wizards on March 5, along with a string of other games in recent weeks.
The following was released by the NBA: pic.twitter.com/3ZWfcek7lT
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) March 12, 2025
Markkanen returned from a nine-game absence against the Grizzlies in Memphis on Wednesday, but it wasn't an overly positive one as the Finnish forward recorded just 14 points and six rebounds on 5-of-14 shooting.
It's been a down season for Markkanen compared to the last two, with the 2023 All-Star averaging less than 20 points a game while shooting only 42.5% from the floor and 34.7% from 3-point range. Perhaps the Jazz are happy with that production given it's allowed them to hold the second-worst record in the league, with their 15 wins only above the Washington Wizards.
However, that's also a double-edged sword for Utah. Given Markkanen's new contract and the form he's displayed this season, his value will have plummeted if the Jazz were to reconsider trading him this offseason.
Not only will it be far more difficult for Utah to trade Markkanen on his new deal, but they'd be unlikely to get anywhere near the same hefty package of young players/future picks that they could have got from Golden State or elsewhere last offseason.
As for the Warriors, they will now feel comfortable having missed out on Markkanen after their blockbuster trade for Jimmy Butler prior to the deadline. Golden State are a scorching 12-1 with Butler in the lineup, while the acquisition of the 6x All-Star also allowed them to retain all their young players and the majority of their future picks.