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SALT LAKE CITY — Lauri Markkanen's future is about to be decided. Well, at least it now can be decided.
Aug. 6 has long been the most important date on the Utah Jazz's offseason calendar. That's when Markkanen, who has one year left on his current deal, can renegotiate and extend his contract with the Jazz.
"We love him and we'd like to have him around," Utah Jazz CEO of basketball Danny Ainge said in April.
"We love to be here. I've said it multiple times and my family likes to be here," Markkanen has said.
Markkanen has grown into a star in his two seasons in Utah and wants to stick around. The Jazz, meanwhile, have the cap space available to sign Markkanen to a much more lucrative deal.
But it's not that simple.
Markkanen's name has been floated in trade scenarios pretty much all offseason. After all, what team couldn't use a 27-year-old 7-footer who can score efficiently at all three levels?
The Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors have reportedly made strong efforts to land Markkanen; and the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs have also kicked the tires on potential deals.
As for the Jazz, they've been able to sit back and listen to offers.
Ainge wasn't lying in the spring when he said Utah would like to keep Markkanen around. Utah isn't shopping the one-time All-Star forward, but with the team unable to extend him until early August, Utah's brain trust could allow the offers to roll in.
The fact that Markkanen is still a member of the Jazz means that a good enough offer hasn't come — at least not yet.
Will that change? That may depend on when Markkanen signs the potential new deal.
Markkanen is in line for a massive pay day. A four-year max extension would give him an average of $47 million per year; a five-year max would approach an average of $50 million per season. There are multiple ways the Jazz could structure a new contract (and it might not reach max status), but, regardless, he'd be in for a significant raise from his current $18 million salary.
Markkanen does hold some extra power here, too.
He won't be eligible to be traded until six months after signing his new deal. And in an odd coincidence, the upcoming season's trade deadline is on Feb. 6, 2025 — exactly six months after the first day he can sign an extension.
All Markkanen has to do to remove himself from the trade market this season is to wait until Wednesday to sign an extension. Such a move would guarantee him to remain in Utah for the entire 2024-25 season.
And that's apparently his plan.
Yahoo Sports reported Monday that Markkanen intends to delay signing a new contract until after Tuesday to block any potential trade.
For flexibility reasons, though, the Jazz would likely prefer him to sign on Tuesday. That would allow them to trade Markkanen on Feb. 6 if the team wants to move him at the deadline.
Utah has made it clear it wants to build around Markkanen, but such efforts have been fruitless thus far.
The Jazz, league sources told KSL.com, attempted to trade for Mikal Bridges this offseason in a move they hoped would also entice Paul George to come to Salt Lake City. That, obviously, didn't happen.
The Jazz's only two moves in free agency (signing backup center Drew Eubanks and former two-way guard Johnny Juzang) aren't going to move the needle for a team that went 5-19 after the trade deadline.
So … what's the plan? If it all seems murky, you'll understand why the Jazz would probably prefer to keep some flexibility — especially with the 2025 draft class featuring potentially five franchise players.
Can the Jazz be bad enough with Markkanen to still land one of those top players? If Markkanen signs after Tuesday, that may be the team's best plan moving forward.
