Danny Ainge is quite possibly the greatest seller in the history of the NBA’s trade market. He once turned aging versions of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce into the picks that became Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. When he flipped Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in the summer of 2022, he walked away with seven total first-round picks, two first-round swaps, two more players that had just been taken in the first round and a host of veterans, including the 2023 Most Improved Player winner Lauri Markkanen.
Now the rumor mill is suggesting that Markkanen could be the next veteran Ainge moves, but according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, he wouldn’t come cheap. His impression from talking to league sources is that Utah would want a package similar to what they received for Gobert and Mitchell to move Markkanen. In other words, they’d want something like four or five first-round picks.
Is that feasible? Well, probably not, though it can’t be written off entirely. There are teams like San Antonio and Oklahoma City that have so many first-round picks in their coffers that the raw number of five, depending on which specific picks are involved in the deal, might not be all that intimidating. Markkanen’s relatively low salary (roughly $35 million total over the next two seasons) makes him a feasible trade candidate for a far wider variety of teams than most superstars.
Of course, he will eventually need to get paid, and in a second-apron world, players like Markkanen just aren’t as valuable as they were when Utah dealt Mitchell and Gobert. Markkanen isn’t nearly as accomplished, either. Gobert was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year when he was dealt. Meanwhile, Mitchell was a three-time All-Star, whereas Markkanen has earned that honor just once. He’s played remarkably well as Utah’s top offensive option. On a more typical contender, he’d be relegated to No. 2 or No. 3 status, where his defensive vulnerabilities would be a bit more troublesome.
But given Ainge’s track record and the relative dearth of star-level talent available at the moment, a trade of this magnitude isn’t off of the table. Markkanen is a remarkably easy fit within most offenses and salary structures, and he’s still only 26 years old. It’s a steep price, but to the right team, he might just be worth it.
Markkanen was taken with the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, though his draft rights were given to Chicago in exchange for Jimmy Butler in a large package deal that also involved Zach LaVine. Over parts of seven NBA seasons, Markkanen has played for the Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and, currently, the Jazz. A first-time All-Star selection in 2022, Markannen averaged 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists en route to the NBA’s Most Improved Player year-end award. This season, he’s averaging 23.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 17 games played.