Utah Jazz trading Lauri Markkanen
As another team that entered the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery with plenty of hope, the Utah Jazz emerged as one of the biggest losers from the event. Instead of winning a top 4 pick in a deep draft, the Jazz took a tumble and will now pick outside the top 4. Why is this so tragic for the Jazz? Well, that's because this draft is relatively a four-player draft. That doesn't mean there aren't other good players in this class, but there are four prospects head and shoulders above the rest.
The fact that the Jazz missed out on one of those four prospects is not good, and it only brings about more uncertainty heading into the offseason. More specifically, it does blur the future of Lauri Markkanen, who is in the midst of his prime years in the NBA. With the Jazz nowhere near contention, you can't help but wonder if missing out on a generational talent in this year's draft class could inch this franchise closer and closer to potentially trading Markkanen.
If I had to guess, I'd lean toward yes. Markkanen is 27 years old and doesn't have another 2-3 years of his prime career to waste. The Jazz would be doing a disservice to Markkanen if they kept him on the roster without a clear plan toward significantly upgrading the roster in the next calendar year. To be quite honest, I'm not sure if there's a natural path toward Utah accomplishing that.
I don't think many understand how much this team's future may have been altered by the NBA Draft Lottery ping-pong balls. The Jazz desperately needed a lifeline, and the NBA Draft Lottery could've provided them that. It didn't, and the team now has some big decisions to make over the next few months.