The Golden State Warriors hopes of landing Lauri Markkanen appear to be fading, with the likelihood that the seven-foot forward remains with the Utah Jazz according to ESPN's Zach Lowe.
Further than that, Lowe's colleague Brian Windhorst has recently stated that a “if that deal was going to happen, it would have happened," while another ESPN reporter, Ramona Shelburne, believes a Markkanen trade to the Warriors is a 20% chance of happening.
On Monday the Jazz posted a photo on their Instagram story of young guard Keyonte George and Markkanen training together in Finland, with the latter reposting it on his own account. That could mean nothing, it could also mean the pair are certainly expecting to be teammates again next season.
While the hopes may be fading to a degree, they should remain alive until the point Markkanen signs a contract extension which would rule him out of being traded for the foreseeable future.
Can the Golden State Warriors find a third team to accrue more draft assets and complete a Lauri Markkanen trade?
Golden State could orchestrate a trade if they're willing to give up young guard Brandin Podziemski, though there's been no indication that they're interested in doing that at this stage. In fact, it's gone the other way where Warrior owner Joe Lacob has reiterated that they don't want to give up the 21-year-old while also labelling him a future All-Star at Summer League earlier this month.
It's highly unlikely that the franchise can obtain Markannen without giving up Podziemski, and even more improbable that they can do so without relinquishing one of he or Jonathan Kuminga. The issue with the latter is that he's extension eligible, and Utah have little interest trading for Kuminga when they'd likely have to turn around and pay the talented forward in excess of $150 million to keep him around long-term.
This is why three-team trade proposals have emerged that see Kuminga go to a third team. Eric Pincus suggested a deal last week that saw the Sacramento Kings as that team, but for the financial and on-court reasons outlined here, there's other teams who could be more motivated to take on Kuminga and give up draft capital in the process.
So, who could that alternative third team be? Let's lay out another trade proposal the Warriors could explore to try and pry Markkanen away from the Jazz.