Lauri Markkanen’s hidden secret proves the Jazz will bring attention to the NBA next season

Lauri Markkanen isn’t exactly a secret weapon for the Utah Jazz. Everyone has seen how good he is, and how good the Jazz will be when they take the ball off him next season and chain it up. What many don’t know is that Markkanen’s defensive abilities should make the Jazz a two-way powerhouse next season.

The Jazz’s well-documented terrible defense will undoubtedly improve with the return of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Walker Kessler next season. Anyone who has watched them knows their pedigrees as defenders.

Markkanen doesn’t get the same exposure, and to be fair, he’s not exactly flashy, but stats show that not only is he not bad on that end of the floor, but more than that, positive. It turns out that the Jazz’s defense is noticeably better when it’s on the floor.

The Jazz will field a massive lineup of Markkanen, JJJ, Kessler, Ace Bailey and Keyonte George next season. Markkanen will move to small forward — something he did four years ago in Cleveland and thrived — where he should be a matchup problem.

No one is saying he’s the elite defender that Jackson or Kessler are, but he could make Utah even more terrifying on that front next season if he can transition smoothly as a winger.

Teams will take Utah seriously if their defense improves

There’s a good chance that Kessler and Jackson together will make the Jazz’s defense above average, but they’re just two players and they can’t play all 48 minutes. If Markkanen continues to hold his own in that area, it will go a long way toward making the Jazz even more difficult to score on.

And it can’t just be him. Utah will be asking more from players like Keyonte George and Ace Bailey to take it to a whole new level. Unless they suffer legitimate injuries, expectations will skyrocket for the Jazz, and they will meet them if everyone does their part.

The downfall of the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert era was that the Jazz couldn’t surround them with two-way players. At first it was the offense that dragged them down. In the end it was the defense. With two-way players at their disposal, Utah could go further than ever before with Mitchell and Gobert.

But it will all depend on how committed everyone is on that side of the floor. We know what JJJ and Kessler can do, and that’s one of the reasons the Jazz should be exciting next season, but it’s going to take everyone else to make Utah a legitimate contender.

There are indications that Markkanen will do his part, and if others follow suit, the league should be very scared.