The Utah Jazz do not want to trade Lauri Markkanen. That’s been known for a while and it doesn’t look like they’ll be changing their tune anytime soon. That hasn’t stopped NBA teams from inquiring about him, and one that has emerged recently would make a lot of sense if the Jazz had made him available: the Memphis Grizzlies.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype revealed that the Grizzlies were one of the teams interested in Markkanen. After naming the Grizzlies, he revealed where Markkanen would fit on the team.
“Rival NBA executives have in the past linked the San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons as potential suitors for Markkanen. Executives also pointed to the Grizzlies, who are loaded with first-round draft capital after the Desmond Bane trade and have the flexibility to acquire another star to pair with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., both of whom are 26 if they decide to remain competitive in the West,” Scotto wrote.
Despite the seismic shift they made when they traded Bane to Orlando, the Grizzlies are still hanging on and are no better than they are now because they have been ravaged by the injury bug (what makes it worse is that their injuries come naturally to them with their unfortunate history).
Markkanen, a better player than Bane, would make the team even harder to stop for what he brings to the table. As good as Morant and Jackson are, Markkanen is the elite three-level scorer the Grizzlies have been missing in the Morant era.
However, Markkanen hypothetically being a perfect fit for the Grizzlies, or indeed any NBA playoff contender, proves exactly why the Jazz want to keep him. More than that, why they plan to build around him. That kind of part is rare to find and difficult to replace.
However, Memphis would have a better package than most
The only misunderstanding about a potential Markkanen trade is that the Jazz would have the same mentality toward trading him as they did toward Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. That is, try to acquire as many assets as possible. The Jazz already have plenty of assets thanks to those trades, and that Phoenix trade indicated they want to improve the quality of those assets, not the quantity.
That is why Memphis is attractive as a trading partner. In the case of the Grizzlies, they have their own draft assets, but they also have a lot of assets from the Magic’s, and that’s what would appeal to the Jazz. Teams like to acquire valuable draft capital from other teams they haven’t traded with. The more ambiguous the team’s fate is, the more value these assets have.
The Magic were unpredictable in a season where many thought Bane would take them to the next level. To be completely honest, it’s not Bane who’s the problem. On the contrary, perhaps we should start considering that despite the talent between the duo of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, they may not be a great fit.
That predicament would make the prospect of getting the Magic’s picks attractive to the Jazz if they tried to trade Markkanen for as much value as possible. Not so, but if they change their minds, Memphis could top the list as destinations for Markkanen.
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