Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Entering the 2025-26 NBA season, there weren’t many teams seen in the true rebuild light across the league. Of course, every team wants to win, but there are always a few franchises that are much more okay with losing than others.

One of those for this year is the Utah Jazz, who have a strong collection of young talent across the roster. This NBA season for Utah is much more about seeing the overall growth and development of the young players, rather than the team picking up victories on the floor.

But the Jazz also have a few solid veteran pieces on the roster, of whom could be traded to give Utah more future assets to work with. The biggest trade chip that Utah has is All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen, who has been subject to rumors about his future for a while now.

All the talk around the Jazz of late has been centered around trade rumors with Markkanen, but so far, the team has held off moving him. There have been reports that the franchise is a little more open to moving Markkanen now, but that all remains to be seen.

Markkanen seems to fit in very well alongside the younger guys, and the Jazz may prefer to have an established All-Star talent to help them learn. But the front office also understands the type of trade return that the team could get for the forward, making this a tough conundrum for the Jazz.

If the Jazz do make Markkanen available, there would be multiple suitors lining up to land his services. Utah will be a team to watch as the trade deadline approaches next spring, and they could have a major impact on how the rest of the season shakes out.

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Should the Utah Jazz Trade Lauri Markkanen?

When looking at Utah, the big question of whether the team should trade Markkanen arises. The veteran is having a career season, averaging 28.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game.

The veteran has looked quite comfortable playing with the younger guys on the team, even if it hasn’t amounted to too many wins. But Utah also understands that by moving Markkanen, it could net more draft picks and young players for the future.

This is the tough part in all of this: do the Jazz keep Markkanen to stay the course? Or do they move him for future assets, to then hope that the rebuild fully takes off?

One underlying factor in all of this is that Utah doesn’t own its first-round pick this season, unless it comes within the top eight of the NBA draft. Trading Markkanen would likely send the Jazz lower in terms of a draft pick, guaranteeing that the team retains its pick.

Many teams are in a similar place with star players, but Utah is one of the few that are looking to potentially enter a rebuild. Moving Markkanen would signal that they are all-in on this move, but the fans may not like it.

Markkanen gives this team someone to get the fans excited, and stars do still talk when it comes to people showing up. It likely makes more sense for the Jazz to move Markkanen, especially with how he is playing this year, but how Utah plays all this will be one of the more closely watched parts of the NBA season.