A big payday awaits Lauri Markka.
Lauri Markkanen has especially improved his defensive play this season. AOP / USA TODAY SPORTS
Yankee media ESPN told, relying on his own sources, that several NBA clubs have inquired about interest in player trades from the Utah Jazz.
There was one in particular on the shopping list Lauri Markkanen.
– In those short negotiations, the Jazz showed a complete lack of interest in giving up Markkanes, ESPN wrote.
Sports Illustrated on the other hand, thought that Jazz would be wearing shopping pants for a change this spring. The team lacks a first-class playmaker, without whom it is really difficult to seek final success.
However, the deal is affected by the fact that Markkanen is expected to receive a really hefty salary increase when the current contract is renewed. The Finn is entering the second-to-last season of what was originally a four-year, $67 million paper.
Of course, it would be in the Jazz’s best interests to tie Markkanen to Salt Lake City with a new luxury deal, but in the current labor market situation it will only be really expensive.
Last summer, the NBA moved to a new collective agreement, which has raised player salaries to a completely new universe.
Markkanen can very well expect a contract of at least 200, maybe even more than 250 million dollars, if he agrees to commit to the Jazz for five years.
That, in turn, curbs the Jazz’s desire to buy, because the club’s potential salary cap will very soon hit the heads of two-meter superstars.
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ESPN cited the Indiana Pacers as an example of a club interested in Markkanes, whose GM Chad Buchanan has made hard deals in the player market before.
The Pacers are still hunting for their first NBA championship, but of course this season they are practically a playoff team (seventh in the Eastern Conference).
After a couple of losses, the Jazz have dropped to tenth place in the Western Conference, so they still have to worry about their own playoff fate.
The NBA regular season is still played until mid-April. The deadline for player transfers is already on February 8.