The trade market was a revolving door of 'what ifs' for the Golden State Warriors over a 12-month period, before the franchise finally got their hands on a second star in the form of Jimmy Butler at February's mid-season deadline.
The Warriors had been linked to numerous players over the previous year, with Lauri Markkanen perhaps the most strongly linked for a month period between July and early August. Golden State ultimately didn't get a deal done with the Utah Jazz for the 2023 All-Star, but now nearly a year on have been lauded for not folding to the demands of Danny Ainge.
The Warriors have been praised for not trading for Lauri Markkanen
Ainge is known for setting a high price for his players when it comes to discussions with rival teams, but he may now be regretting his conversations with Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Golden State as Markkanen gets set to become available again this offseason.
In discussing Markkanen's market this summer, Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports and Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated both suggested that the Jazz made a big mistake in not trading the Finnish forward to the Warriors last year.
Mannix: "Do the Jazz regret not getting some kind of deal done for Markkanen last year with Golden State?”
O'Connor: "Hell yeah!"
Mannix: “Yeah, this is what I'm saying. Like they, they did what Danny Angie always does. You hold out for the mother load. And a lot of times it works. A lot of times you get a counterpart that is desperate. Golden State was not desperate and they were smart not to go all in to get Lauri Markkanen on that team.”
Any Markkanen deal last offseason would have required the Warriors including multiple young players and future draft assets, with plenty of speculation over Brandin Podziemski's involvement as a sticking point after the young guard had finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting.
Missing out on Markkanen may have been a blessing in disguise for Golden State who were able to acquire Butler for a far cheaper price in February. They were able to retain all three of Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, while only relinquishing one first-round pick which has become the 20th overall selection in the upcoming draft later this month.
The Warriors did have to give Butler a new two-year, $111 million contract to secure his services in the Bay going forward, but that's still far less than the commitment on Markkanen who's about to start a new four-year, $195.9 million deal.
That massive new contract will make Markkanen's market incredibly fascinating this offseason, with little chance Ainge and the Jazz get anything near the return they could have got from Golden State or another team 12 months ago.
While the Warriors were the team most strongly linked to Markkanen last year, it's unlikely they have too much interest this time around unless they're shockingly willing to move on from Butler or franchise legend Draymond Green.