There is a lot of clarity that can be gleaned from the extension Lauri Markkanen inked with the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
It’s clear that Jazz brass were not bluffing when they said they preferred to keep Markkanen, rather than trade him. It’s obvious that Markkanen was looking for some peace of mind and a season of stability after a summer full of speculation. The size of the new contract shows us the value that Markkanen has, not only to the Jazz, but league-wide.
But maybe the most important thing about this extension is that it signals Markkanen’s understanding about the Jazz’s future and his willingness to stay along for the ride.
The Jazz front office can’t outright say that they don’t want to win games next season and you will probably hear them say some of the same things that they have said for the last two years: Winning is important. Sustained success is the goal. We want to take Lauri to the playoffs. Big-game hunting, etc.
But make no mistake, they want to lose a lot of games this season.
Jazz head coach Will Hardy is not going to be throwing games and neither will Markkanen or the rest of the Jazz roster. But the Jazz roster, especially its active roster on any given night, is not constructed or decided on by Hardy or Markkanen. The Jazz front office will make sure that this is not a winning team. For many NBA teams, the 2024-25 season is a game of capture the Flagg more than it is a race to an NBA title.
With a 2025 draft class that will be headlined by Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper (among others), a top-10 protected pick that would otherwise go to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and a team that is still far away from championship contention, the Jazz are going to be one of the teams vying for a high draft position.
These are truths that Markkanen knows and understands. And if moving forward with a team that is still at the beginning stages of a rebuild, that will lose a lot of games next year, is not something that Markkanen was going to be OK with, this offseason probably would have played out a bit differently.
And if you think that Markkanen isn’t thinking that far ahead, that he hasn’t been made to understand the team’s short-term goals or that he doesn’t intricately understand the business side of this game, think again.
In Markkanen’s exit interview at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, he was asked about the extension negotiations that were going to unfold over the summer.
“We’d love to be here, I’ve said it multiple times, my family likes to be here, and especially if they get a hockey team,” the Finnish star said with a chuckle before continuing on in a more serious tone. “I’ve been emphasizing the winning point, too. So, we’ve got to sit down after the season, but yeah. Obviously I don’t want to be the guy who ... like, I’ve seen the NBA part of people turning down extensions or signing them too early. I’ve kind of seen everything, so I got to sit down and think about it.”
Timing was something that was very much on Markkanen’s mind back in April. He knew that if he signed an extension on the first day he was able to (Aug. 6) that it would make him trade eligible on Feb. 6, the NBA’s trade deadline. Markkanen understood the leverage that he would have in waiting until Aug. 7 to sign an extension, and he understood that it would give him a full season of peace.
Stability is something that has been really important to Markkanen, something that he’s talked about multiple times since arriving in Utah. Thinking about his wife and two young children, and having already been traded twice, it’s no surprise that Markkanen was concerned with timing.
He has also talked about his desire to play playoff basketball, to vie for an NBA championship, and the Jazz have said that they want to do that with Markkanen. But, that will have to be done at a later date.
So, Markkanen signing this extension does not signal the Jazz’s intent to win games now. Instead, it means that Markkanen will be content with being sidelined every time he has an ache or a sore muscle or anything that can even remotely be perceived as an injury and it means that he is OK with seeing even more roster turnover in the hopes that the Jazz can land a franchise-changing prospect.