The Utah Jazz tried to win a championship with their All-Star duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert for half a decade before deciding to blow it all up. In doing so, they acquired incredibly competent pieces along with a bevy of first round pick and pick swaps. One of the pieces they acquired was Lauri Markkanen.
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Markkanen was lauded as being yet another big-man who could stretch the floor in a prime Kristaps type way going into the 2017 NBA Draft. After playing 4 seasons with the Chicago Bulls, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers where he was relegated to a 3&D role.
After a single season in ‘The Land’, the Finnish big-man was traded to the Utah Jazz for Donovan Mitchell in a package involving 3 players, 2 FRP swaps, and 3 FRPs. Danny Ainge wanted the Jazz to tank and everybody expected them to. Fast-forward to today and they’re the first team to reach 10 wins in the NBA.
Lauri Markkanen wants the Jazz to ditch the tanking label
Lauri Markkanen put up a season high 32 points tonight in a victory over the Atlanta Hawks to give the Utah Jazz their 10th win of the season. They are currently the number one seed in the Western Conference and despite this, are not getting their due respect.
Lauri was recently interviewed by The Athletic’s Shams Charania and was asked about how he felt about the tanking label amidst their surge to the top. Markkanen admitted that he didn’t like it and that him and his teammates ‘hated’ seeing people surprised at their dominance.
Utah’s burgeoning star Lauri Markkanen sits down with @Stadium: “(Tanking chatter) definitely feeds us. We hate to see that every morning when we win, we see that it’s a surprise.” Also: Jazz-Cavs trade and similarities, All-Star goal, joyless finish with the Bulls, much more. pic.twitter.com/VHWzkiKF1x
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 8, 2022
It’s unclear where the Jazz go from here however. The way they play basketball is incredibly unselfish with no clear superstar in place. If there was one, it would be Lauri, a frontrunner for the 2023 Most Improved Player.
Does Danny Ainge blow up the team by the time the February trade deadline comes around? Most probably. But will he do so if they continue to dominate as they have to start this season?
Why have the Jazz been so successful this season?
Like the San Antonio Spurs, the Utah Jazz, as mentioned above, play unselfish basketball. With no singular player having the offense run through, everybody plays up to their strengths. They are 6th in the NBA in assists per game.
Mike Conley has flourished in his role as a distributor, Jordan Clarkson continues to be an unorthodox scoring guard, and of course, you have Lauri Markkanen. Jared Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley have also excelled in their roles on both sides of the floor.
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