Lauri Markkanen trade rumors: Why Aug. 6 is a key date for the Jazz star's future

Markkanen's fate will be determined in early August

By Sam Quinn Aug 5, 2024 at 10:36 am ET• 3 min read

Lauri Markkanen has been the most prominent player on the NBA's trade market this offseason, and the Golden State Warriors have been in hot pursuit. A deal makes sense on both sides. The Warriors, staring at the end of Stephen Curry's prime, would like to contend for championships with him while they still can. The Jazz have been a lottery team over the past two seasons and are badly in need of direction. Markkanen is good enough to get them a haul of assets that might one day be part of a winner, but not so good that he could be expected to lead them to contention himself.

The Jazz and Warriors have gone back and forth over the past few weeks and months, but there is an end in sight. On Aug. 6, Markkanen becomes eligible to renegotiate and extend his contract. This would allow the Jazz to use the bulk of their cap space to raise Markkanen's 2024-25 salary from $18 million up to his max while then locking him up long-term on a deal that pays him at a rate commensurate with his production.

Here's the catch: If Markkanen does renegotiate and extend, he becomes ineligible for a trade for the next six months. Six months from Aug. 6, 2024, is Feb. 6, 2025. That date happens to be the 2025 trade deadline.

This breaks the Markkanen timeline into three distinct phases. Right now, we are in the first phase, the period in which Markkanen is not eligible to renegotiate and extend. It makes sense for the Jazz to determine whether or not they want to trade him now, before they face the pressure that would come from the Markkanen camp on a new deal. The Jazz are the only team with the cap space to give him a raise this season, so if his primary goal is maximizing earnings, it behooves him to remain in Utah. Other teams could only extend him at a 40% raise on his current salary, which is far below his true worth. He would have to wait a year and re-sign with his new team as a free agent to get fair value.

The second phase comes on Aug. 6, specifically. If Markkanen is open to a trade but wants to get paid now, he would re-sign on this date to make him eligible for an in-season move. The Jazz might also use this as a negotiating point, saying to Markkanen that they are willing to pay him his max, but only if he agrees to trade eligibility during the season. Such a move would kill talks for now, but allow the Jazz to re-evaluate their position in February.