NBA Trade Rumors: Ranking every team’s top 3 trade assets heading into the offseason

Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James (Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports)
Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James (Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports)
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NBA
NBA Utah Jazz Lauri Markkanen (Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports)

Utah Jazz

Trade assets: 1. Lauri Markkanen 2. 9th pick in 2023 NBA Draft 3. Walker Kessler 

For a team that is in the early stages of a rebuild, you can make the argument that the Utah Jazz is in a great spot. They have a couple of solid young building blocks in Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler and have a flurry of future first-round picks (including three in the 2023 NBA Draft) that the team could either use on prospects or trade for established players over the course of the next few seasons.

At least for now, their best trade asset is Markkanen who is coming off a breakout season in which he earned his first NBA All-Star appearance of his career, averaging 26 points and nine rebounds per game. Their top 10 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft has to also be viewed as quite valuable on the open market considering many expect this year’s draft class to be the best in recent history.

Walker Kessler is another young player on their roster that has to be viewed as a blue-chip trade asset for the team heading into the offseason. Kessler finished third in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year vote as he averaged nine points, eight rebounds, and two blocks per game this season.