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SALT LAKE CITY — Trading away three All-Star players over the last two summers does not seem like the formula to build a championship-caliber NBA team.
Yet, if various reports are taken seriously, the Jazz are weighing the possibility of doing as much in the coming weeks. Two years after dispatching Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell in separate deals, management could follow suit with Lauri Markkanen.
Typical in the aftermath of the draft in late June, all sorts of speculation — some of which become reality — swirls throughout the association as reporters scramble to tap into sources for juicy intel. Markkanen's name was splattered over social media on the first day of free agency, linking the star to numerous teams that have interest in him.
Fresh off losing free agent Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks, the Golden State Warriors may try to replace a key part to four championship teams by prying away Utah's best player. Other teams that failed to acquire Mikail Bridges, who was traded cross town from the Nets to the New York Knicks, also are eying Markkanen.
"One player that a number of teams that have tried to target (is) Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz," NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said on ESPN. "Utah's not sure it wants to trade him, but they have to listen. They've been listening. A lot of the teams that lost out on Mikail Bridges from Brooklyn have transferred over to try to see if they can land Lauri Markkanen out of Utah."
As local media and Jazz fans know full well, Jazz CEO Danny Ainge said at his last press conference that he intended to go "big-game hunting" this offseason. So far, the only new faces to join the team are the three youngsters drafted last week and free agent reserve center Drew Eubanks.
Predictably the comments poking fun at Ainge's eye-catching quote followed, but remember he also said: "If we don't land anything, we don't make any deals, we don't land anything, then our direction could change at that moment and wait until the next time we can try to build a roster."
No argument there. Shooting for the stars is one thing, but there's no point in making silly deals that barely improve the team.
All of which brings us to Markkanen. If he's willing to tolerate more losing to improve the odds of landing elite players through future drafts, beginning next year, then keep him.
Much like with the Gobert and Mitchell trades, the Jazz likely would get younger players and more draft picks for Markkanen. But they already own at least 13 picks over the next seven seasons.
Rather than jettison Markkanen for more of the same, maybe the better route is to swap some picks with a team in rebuilding mode. Every season has several teams with talent that prefer tanking over winning.
On the surface, Markkanen appears to buy into the massive rebuilding project that looks like it will enter a third season. Don't forget, Gordon Hayward and Mitchell wanted out of Jazz teams that won in the playoffs.
Of course, winning and money talks the loudest. Markkanen, who will get his cash either way, has stated multiple times he and his family like it in Utah. And the Finnish native has joked he'd like it even more if Utah got an NHL hockey team.
Ainge and Co. "want to win a championship, as well," Markkanen said during his season exit interview. "So, they're doing the best they can towards that. I think we have a lot of good people in this organization that've shown they can do the job, so I have to trust those guys."
