With the Utah Jazz likely to be at the bottom of the Western Conference next season, speculation has grown that they will finally trade Lauri Markkanen after years of rumors. Given their need for a floor-spacing big, it makes sense that the Detroit Pistons might be interested if Markkanen is made available.
Markkanen is a painfully obvious target for a team with only one real power forward, Tobias Harris, who is on the final year of his contract.
But I’ve also written about all the challenges in trading for a guy like Markkanen, not the least of which is the Ainge factor, as team CEO Danny is known for milking the most out of every trade asset.
There’s a cost for Markkanen that would make sense for the Pistons and one that wouldn’t, so there is a value line that Trajan Langdon is not going to cross in any deal, as he prioritizes financial flexibility and depth.
We may have gotten a sense of just how expensive Markkanen would be by recent rumors about the asking price for another Jazz player.
Detroit Pistons trade: Dealing with the Jazz won’t be cheap
The Lakers have been trying to trade for Walker Kessler for the last year and are still sniffing around according to recent reports.
It’s been reported that the Jazz are asking for a massive payoff for their young center in the form of Austin Reaves and a few first-round picks. Kessler is very good, an elite rebounder and rim protector who would fit in perfectly with LeBron and Luka.
But is a guy who is primarily a rebounder and shot blocker who played 58 games last season really worth a dynamic 20+ppg scorer in Reaves AND multiple first-round picks? Ainge clearly knows he has the leverage here and is going to get as much as possible.
It makes you wonder how much the Jazz would want for Markkanen, who is a former All-Star and the better player of the two (at least offensively). Seven footers that can shoot are a valued commodity in the NBA, so if the Jazz want this much for Kessler, they’ll want even more for Markkanen.
Some of the trade proposals we’ve seen have already been ridiculous, as the Pistons can’t send out three quality players for one, no matter who that player is, especially when Markkanen is so injury prone and on a huge salary.
If there is one thing we know about Trajan Langdon, it’s that he’s not going to get sucked into making a big trade just to make one and is always going to value depth, team control and financial flexibility in any deal.
Given what we’ve seen so far, it may take far more to land Markkanen than Langdon is comfortable giving up and that’s probably smart.