Moving on from Lauri Markkanen
It ain’t happening, folks.
The NBA is the definition of a never-say-never league. Imagine a year ago being told that Klay Thompson was starting his final season with the Golden State Warriors. Imagine two years ago being told that Chris Paul would be suiting up for the blue-and-gold soon. Imagine four years ago, after a 15-win season, being told that another title was right around the corner for Dub Nation. Imagine 15 years ago being told that your favorite team just drafted one of the 10 greatest players in NBA history.
So don’t give up on any dreams yet. But if there are dreams that you are giving up on, it’s probably the dream of trading for Lauri Markkanen. Because it sure as heck seems like that dream is dead.
The Warriors, so often a tight-lipped franchise, have not been able to quell the myriad reports that the team desperately wants to trade for the Utah Jazz’s All-Star, an ultra-athletic 27-year old 7-foot sharpshooter entering the final year of his contract. But nothing materialized near the draft or at the start of free agency, and now the dream feels impossible. There’s the report that Markkanen wants to stay with the Jazz, which is reason enough for Utah to keep him. There’s also a recent report from Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus that Utah is insistent on receiving Brandin Podziemski in any trade with the Warriors — seemingly a roadblock given that Golden State doesn’t appear willing to part with Podz after a dynamic rookie campaign (and justifiably so, I might add).
None of that is final. The Jazz could change their tune on a package from the Dubs, or Golden State could (I hope not), or, as Pincus proposes, a third team could be brought into the fold. But between those sticking points — and a quick-approaching deadline where it is growing increasingly likely that Markkanen will sign an extension — it certainly seems like the longest of long shots that Markkanen will play half his games in San Francisco this season.
And so the Warriors move on (probably). It’s not the worst thing in the world. At best, they’ve saved their trade chips for another player, should one become available between now and the start of the season, or between the start of the season and the trade deadline. At worst, they’ll enter the year keeping their exciting young crop of players fully intact.