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A Blockbuster Trade Idea to Land Los Angeles Lakers Another Elite European Weapon
Three years ago, trades of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell suggested the Utah Jazz were poised for an aggressive rebuild, but they sort of slow-played the teardown over the next two seasons.
In 2024-25, they chased losses with much less subtlety. And despite ending the campaign with the league's best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick, they slid to fifth and still don't have a young, surefire cornerstone.
That makes Lauri Markkanen an obvious source for trade speculation. At 28, he's certainly not old, but he's also not a prospect. And while he's shown star talent in the NBA, he might be better suited as a high-end finisher than an offensive center of gravity.
Perhaps most importantly, by the time the rest of Utah's young roster is ready to compete for a playoff spot, Markkanen is likely to be well into his 30s.
So, it should come as little surprise that as he dominates another EuroBasket tournament for the Finnish national team, longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein is publishing nuggets about a potential move.
"By month's end he'll be back in Salt Lake City with a team that went 17-65 last season and might not be any better this season. Is this what Markkanen signed up for when he inked a five-year contract extension with the Jazz worth nearly $240 million in August 2024?" Stein asked. "The 7-footer is entering his ninth NBA season and has still yet to play in a single playoff game. Count on Utah's phones ringing often between now and February with trade interest in The Finnisher."
The Los Angeles Lakers, still relatively fresh off their Luka Dončić coup, are one of the teams that should be making that call. Below, we have a deal that would land one of the league's best receivers alongside L.A.'s new quarterback. And for good measure, we found a way to send some offense to the Miami Heat, too.
The Deal
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But before we dive into why each team would do this, we'll glance at the entire deal in one slide.
Jazz Receive: Terry Rozier, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, a 2026 first-round pick from L.A., a 2031 first-round pick from L.A. and a 2031 first-round pick from Miami
Jazz Lose: Lauri Markkanen, Svi Mykhailiuk
Lakers Receive: Lauri Markkanen
Lakers Lose: Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, a 2026 first-round pick and a 2031 first-round pick
Heat Receive: Austin Reaves and Svi Mykhailiuk
Heat Lose: Terry Rozier and a 2031 first-round pick
As always, feel free to quibble over the number of picks involved. Some of the smaller contracts included could warrant debate, too. The most important part is the foundation. And we'll explain why everyone should be interested in that.
Utah Lands More Assets (and Losses)
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Jazz Receive: Terry Rozier, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, a 2026 first-round pick from L.A., a 2031 first-round pick from L.A. and a 2031 first-round pick from Miami
Jazz Lose: Lauri Markkanen, Svi Mykhailiuk
The objectives here are pretty clear for Utah. This deal makes the Jazz worse in the short term. That's good for lottery odds. The basketball gods may not have been kind to them this summer, but maybe they'll reward perseverance with the first pick in 2026.
The better chance to win that selection is the short-term win. Long term, it always helps to have more picks, and this framework gives them three (by re-routing Reaves to the Heat).
The deal also clears the runway for more development for younger forwards like Ace Bailey (this year's fifth pick), Taylor Hendricks (whose sophomore campaign was cut short by injury after just three games) and even Kyle Filipowski (who may have enough perimeter skill to play a little alongside Walker Kessler).
Plus, as if that all wasn't enough, this could be one of those cascading trades where the return isn't immediately complete. Months from now, if Rui Hachimura plays well for the rebuilding Jazz, he could fetch even more value in February.
Lakers Join the Contenders
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Lakers Receive: Lauri Markkanen
Lakers Lose: Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, a 2026 first-round pick and a 2031 first-round pick
They'd have to replenish their 2025-26 rotation with some minimum signings, but this is a trade that could vault the Lakers onto the contenders' tier right away, while also giving them a one-two punch to rely on beyond LeBron James' retirement.
Markkanen is undoubtedly the best individual player in this deal.
During his two healthy seasons with the Jazz (2022-23 and 2023-24), Markkanen put up 24.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.1 threes, while shooting 39.5 percent from deep.
Over the course of all three of his seasons there, Jayson Tatum was the only player in the league who exceeded both his totals for threes and dunks (Tatum played 52 more games in that stretch).
And in each individual season, Markkanen was always near the bottom of the league in dribbles and time of possession (relative to other volume scorers).
In other words, he's a near-perfect fit alongside the ball-dominant Luka (and LeBron, for that matter).
As a floor spacer flanking Luka's pick-and-rolls with other bigs, the screener in those actions himself, a cutter or transition finisher, Markkanen would feast on defenses compromised by Luka.
And though he probably won't be an All-Defense contender any time soon, he works hard on that end, takes up way more space than Reaves and would boost L.A.'s rebounding.
The Lakers would likely still be looking up at the Oklahoma City Thunder after a trade like this, but you could reasonably argue to put them in the next group with the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets.
Miami Adds More Offense
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Heat Receive: Austin Reaves and Svi Mykhailiuk
Heat Lose: Terry Rozier and a 2031 first-round pick
The Heat already took advantage of the Los Angeles Clippers' aversion to paying Norman Powell's next deal and landed him earlier this summer.
But when you look at the depth chart, it's still hard to avoid penciling Tyler Herro (a shooting guard) in at point guard.
And after finishing last season at 21st in points per 100 possessions, it might not be a bad idea to take another swing on some offense.
Reaves is a more natural facilitator than Herro, Powell and maybe even Davion Mitchell. He might also be the best of that group at getting into the teeth of a defense and forcing it to collapse. That would give Herro and Powell more high-efficiency catch-and-shoot opportunities.
Add that to his analytically friendly scoring (Reaves has averaged 14.5 points on just 9.9 field-goal attempts during his career), and it's not hard to imagine him pushing this offense closer to the league's top 10.
There is some risk in the deal, beyond just giving up a first-rounder. Reaves is almost certain to decline his $14.9 million player option for 2026-27. But having him in the system for a year could give the Heat the inside track on re-signing him.
