A 3-Team Trade to Move Lauri Markkanen During NBA Free Agency

NBA free agency is officially open, and a wave of news is pouring through it.

So, you’re excused if you happened to miss this nugget that came through on Monday morning.

“The teams negotiating with the [Utah] Jazz do think there’s a good chance they’re going to move [Lauri Markkanen],” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast. “Sometimes, Danny Ainge will act like he’s going to do a trade then there’s no trade. Maybe that will happen again here. But the teams negotiating think so.”

If Markkanen is indeed available, there are a few teams poised to offer the Jazz the kind of pick haul they may want after seeing what the Brooklyn Nets got for Mikal Bridges. Chief among them may be the Oklahoma City Thunder, who’ve already loaded up with Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein this week.

The deal proposed here turns OKC into a superteam, accelerates Utah’s tank toward the 2025 draft (and a shot at Cooper Flagg and Ace Bailey) and solidifies the suddenly competitive San Antonio Spurs.

Luguentz Dort Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images

As always, before we break down why each individual team might be interested in this deal, let’s look at the entire framework from a macro level.

Thunder Receive: Lauri Markkanen and a 2028 second-round pick from the Spurs

Thunder Lose: Luguentz Dort, swap rights to the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2025 first-round pick, a 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 first-round pick (via Clippers), a 2028 first-round pick, a 2026 second-round pick (via Golden State) and a 2028 second-round pick (via Utah)

Spurs Receive: Luguentz Dort and Walker Kessler

Spurs Lose: Zach Collins, a 2026 first-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick swap and a 2028 second-round pick (via Minnesota)

Jazz Receive: Zach Collins, swap rights to the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2025 first-round pick, a 2025 first-round pick from OKC, a 2026 first-round pick from OKC (via L.A.), a 2028 first-round pick from OKC, a 2026 second-round pick from OKC (via Golden State), a 2028 second-round pick from OKC (via Utah), a 2026 first-round pick from San Antonio and a 2027 first-round pick swap from San Antonio

Jazz Lose: Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler

There’s a lot to take in there. Feel free to quibble over some of the picks involved, protections, etc. The point, as always, is the core of the deal.

After you read the explanations, you’ll understand why this makes sense for each team.

Lauri Markkanen Rich Storry/Getty Images

Thunder Receive: Lauri Markkanen and a 2028 second-round pick from the Spurs

Thunder Lose: Luguentz Dort, swap rights to the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2025 first-round pick, a 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 first-round pick (via L.A.), a 2028 first-round pick, a 2026 second-round pick (via Golden State) and a 2028 second-round pick (via Utah)

With its offseason additions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, OKC is already firmly in the 2024-25 title hunt. It finished first in the West last season, has a perennial All-NBA talent in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and two more potential stars on their rookie deals in Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

The Thunder could now coast into next season and be a real challenge to the Boston Celtics and anyone in the Western Conference. But the relatively small salaries of Holmgren and Williams also gives them the opportunity to be ultra-aggressive while much of the rest of the league is acting terrified of this new collective bargaining agreement and its accompanying penalties for expensive rosters.

Luguentz Dort’s contract is highly tradable, and it just so happens to match up well with Markkanen’s. If the Thunder offered him and a big chunk of their massive pile of draft assets, the rebuilding Jazz would have to be tempted.

The resulting Thunder rotation would be a nightmare for the rest of the league to defend. A starting five of SGA, Caruso, Williams, Markkanen and Holmgren could play a dynamic, five-out attack and would have tons of length and athleticism on the other end.

That group would quickly become less affordable. Markkanen’s below-market deal expires after 2024-25, and Williams and Holmgren will both be up for lucrative extensions next summer, too. But a hallmark of competing in this new CBA may be taking one- or two-year shots when you have them.

Chris Paul and Luguentz Dort Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images

Spurs Receive: Luguentz Dort and Walker Kessler

Spurs Lose: Zach Collins, a 2026 first-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick swap and a 2028 second-round pick (via Minnesota)

Windhorst mentioned the Spurs as a potential suitor for Markkanen on The Hoop Collective, so there may be a simpler, OKC-less version of this trade that sends the star to San Antonio.

The Spurs also have some movable contracts and a deep stash of draft assets. It’s going to be hard for anyone to outbid the Thunder on that front, though. And San Antonio can still reap some benefits from Utah’s rebuild.

Dort doesn’t make a ton of sense for a Jazz team that should be hunting losses in 2024-25. Luckily, his three-and-D game would fit seamlessly between Victor Wembanyama and his new point guard, Chris Paul (who was Dort’s teammate in OKC in 2019-20).

If the Spurs can also coax Walker Kessler out of the deal, even better.

Utah has reportedly been open to moving the young rim protector, and he could either be a high-end backup for Wemby or could keep the dream of the young Frenchman being a 4 alive. The Spurs may be able to toy with both of those ideas, depending on how head coach Gregg Popovich would structure the rotation.

Giving up Zach Collins’ salary, a first-rounder and a pick swap is worth it for this haul. The resulting Spurs squad would be in the mix for a play-in spot at the very least.

Adam Silver and Cody Williams Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Jazz Lose: Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler

Utah’s in a tricky situation.

All-Stars like Markkanen don’t often pick small or mid-size markets on their own. They sort of stumbled into one as part of the Donovan Mitchell trade (don’t pretend like you saw this version of Markkanen arriving from that deal).

But they also don’t have the Tier 1 superstar that’s almost a prerequisite for title contention in the NBA. That player could conceivably be in the loaded 2025 draft.

Not being fully committed to tanking in each of the last two seasons pushed the Jazz closer to the back of the lottery. If they keep Markkanen, it could happen again this coming season.

Given the way he played the last two seasons, and after seeing Brooklyn’s haul for Bridges, Markkanen could be dealt for a massive price.

Although the Jazz would be terrible in the short term, fans could get behind watching young prospects like Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski. If the short-term pain leads to someone like Flagg or Bailey being added to that core, it will have been worth it.