New price tag for Lauri Markkanen makes Utah Jazz's intent on trading him clear

The reported new price tag for Lauri Markkanen suggests the Utah Jazz may not be all that serious about trading him.

It's become pretty clear that the Utah Jazz are in the midst of a rebuild. Even though they haven't entirely leaned into the philosophy of one, the Jazz is not in a position where they're going to be able to compete for a championship anytime soon. That's the biggest reason why many around the league are under the belief that they could be open to trading Lauri Markkanen, who just has one year remaining on his current contract with the team.

And at 27 years old, there's a strong argument to be made that Markkanen's timeline doesn't fit with the Jazz's current build. Objectively, it makes sense that the Jazz would trade Markkanen. However, perhaps they may not be as serious about trading him as some originally thought.

The Utah Jazz may not be ready to trade Lauri Markkanen

That's because their asking price is reportedly absurdly high. According to a recent report, the Jazz has asked the Golden State Warriors, a team that has shown the strongest interest in Markkanen, for a package centered around Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, and draft capital. You can't imagine that's a package the Warriors would ever consider. Because of that, you can't help but question whether the Jazz is serious about trading Markkanen.

And that wouldn't be all that shocking. Entering the offseason, the narrative surrounding the Jazz didn't point to a potential Markkanen trade. Instead, it was reported that Utah wanted to be aggressive in their pursuits of landing star talent to play alongside Markkanen. Even though that hasn't happened so far this season, there's no reason to believe that Utah is all of a sudden going to pivot off that initial approach.

I'd have to think that in a perfect world, the Jazz would be able to extend Markkanen's contract at some point this offseason and then would be able to add an All-Star talent to help him elevate the team to another level.

Whether that's a feasible plan remains to be seen but I'd be shocked to see the Jazz completely pivot their offseason plan in a matter of a few months. Is there a scenario in which the Jazz end up trading Markkanen in the near future? Absolutely. However, I still don't believe it will take place this offseason. And the way the Jazz are negotiating, it doesn't appear as if they're ready to trade him either.