Before the Golden State Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler, it seemed like Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen was their star of choice on the trade market. Of course, nothing ever materialized on that front. And adding Markkanen now — if the Warriors are still interested in doing so — would have to include the team essentially sacrificing any semblance of a young core.
Jake Fischer recently said about the Warriors' pursuit of Markkanen:
"Golden State doesn't really seemingly have the contracts and the juice to get a deal done in the post-Jimmy Butler era. But if they're going to go out and get Lauri Markkanen, I think that's the exact type of upgrade... that the Warriors are... hopefully going to be trying to turn Jonathan Kuminga into, but at that point I don't know how the Warriors get Lauri Markkanen without putting both Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski in that type of deal..."
It's a little scary, a little painful to think of the team giving up both of its homegrown young players... and very clearly worth it. The Warriors should make this deal today if the Jazz are willing to do it. Markkanen, as Fischer said, is about as good a fit in Golden State as you could dream up. He's basically a top-tier movement shooter and play finisher, which is exactly what the Warriors need. He's much better off the ball than on it, which fits perfectly among Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler.
Trading Kuminga and Podziemski would leave Warriors future barren
And that shouldn't stop the Warriors from pursuing Markkanen. Here's my thought process: the Warriors already don't have a young core.
Podz and Kuminga can both be good players (and I think Kuminga has gotten weirdly underrated after the free agency debacle), but neither is going to lead a team in the future. Neither is going to be a No. 1 option. And if the front office thinks Lauri Markkanen is the player who puts the current Warriors into championship contention, then sacrificing a future (that the team already doesn't really have) is a no-brainer.
I know the idea of what a player could turn into is enticing, and I don't want to downplay the upside of Podziemski and Kuminga, because they do both have considerable upside. But I think we often get a little ahead of ourselves with what players can be. Becoming an All-Star is hard; maybe Podziemski or Kuminga can do that one day, way down the line.
But Markkanen is a borderline star now. The future of the Warriors is a problem for another day. It might be a big problem for another day, but it's already not looking great, so why not make things as good as possible in the meantime?