Warriors' off-and-on trade crush proves he's still worth keeping an eye on

Jonathan Kuminga might be drawing all the offseason headlines this offseason, but rewind just over 12 months and it was Lauri Markkanen who was of most interest to the Golden State Warriors.

It's literally one day after the anniversary of Markkanen recommitting to the Jazz on a mammoth new extension, having spent the entire 2024 offseason to that point being linked with a trade to the Warriors.

Yet after another tanking Jazz season that culminated with only the fifth overall pick, there's once again speculation that Markkanen could become available. If that is the case, then the 2023 All-Star has done his value no harm with a huge performance in Finland's opening EuroBasket warm-up game against Belgium.

Lauri Markkanen proves he's still a player to monitor for a potential trade

Markkanen exploded in scoring nearly half of his team's points in a 105-62 victory, with a monumental 48-point outburst the highest ever by a Finnish player in international competition. The seven-foot forward played just over 25 minutes in the contest, leading his team to dominance in each of the quarters.

Markkanen's 48 points came on an incredibly efficient 17-of-24 shooting from the floor, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range while he nailed 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. The 28-year-old also recorded nine rebounds, three assists and just one turnover, unsurprisingly finishing as a game-high +33.

The Jazz will be hoping for strong output from Markkanen in EuroBasket for more than one reason, having limited him to just 47 games last season as their ambitions squarely focused on developing their young players and improving their draft lottery odds.

Markkanen's numbers took a significant step back from the previous two seasons, having dropped over four points and two rebounds less than 2023-24. His field-goal percentage also dipped from 48% to 42.3%, while his 3-point shooting went from 39.9% to 34.6%.

Combine this with his brand new four-year, $195.9 million contract and Markkanen is no longer the same trade target that the Warriors were so keen on just over 12 months ago. In fact, the value of the former seventh overall pick may have decreased to a point where Utah actually need to boost it back up before considering a trade.

As for Golden State, they're no longer in the same position to acquire Markkanen based on the fact he'll be making $46.4 million next season. Things could always change once the season gets underway though, with performances like these and Markkanen's desirable combination of size and shooting proving he's still worthy of keeping an eye from a Warrior perspective.