The Oklahoma City Thunder could just be one move away from finally reaching championship contender status. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a lot of talent around him with the likes of Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren. However, he also needs an experienced partner. One who has been able to give a team huge outputs when it comes to the stat sheet. This is where Lauri Markkanen enters out of the Utah Jazz system. He could be the final missing piece that could propel this young squad into an NBA Finals appearance.
There is growing belief that the Thunder could be entering the Lauri Markkanen sweepstakes, per Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints. It is said that the Jazz are willing to trade everyone in their roster except for young guys like Keyonte George and Taylor Hendricks. This is why, in the past few months, Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, and Collin Sexton have seen some teams knocking in the Jazz front office.
These two franchises seem like a match made in heaven with their demands. For the Thunder, they want a solid player who can help them in their win-now situation. Preferably, they want someone who can work alongside Chet Holmgren in the frontcourt. This is such that they have increased depth and options come the postseason. Fatigue and injury management of their big men is also important which makes the Jazz star a perfect candidate for the trade.
The Jazz, on the other hand, want to focus on building up players for their future. A big reason why they don't want to let go of Hendricks and George is because they want to have these two as a part of their core. The Thunder could then give them what they need the most to start over, draft picks. Sam Presti has been great in collecting these over the past few years. He can surely sprinkle some of them to the delight of the Jazz front office.
Big caveats regarding this Thunder-Jazz Lauri Markkannen trade
While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander getting another star is a fun idea to ponder, the Jazz have not formally shown interest in moving forward with a deal like this. A lot of signs still point toward Markkanen signing a new extension with his former team and sticking around with them for the foreseeable future. This is because the Jazz believe that Markkanen still has all the skill sets to lead them into deep postseason runs. A belief that he can still pull it off alongside Clarkson, George, Hendricks, and Sexton.
The Thunder need to be the first movers when it comes to this deal. There is no certainty that they will do so. However, there is a benchmark that most fans of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's squad can look out for. If some chatter coming from personnel indicates that Markkanen could be pursued by the Thunder before he becomes extension-eligible, a deal could likely be done before the start of the season.
Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are great supporting members of this Thunder squad. However, Markkanen being added to the roster would expand their championship chances by a lot.
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