Would there be a better (potentially) realistic get than Lauri Markkanen?
I doubt they would see any reason to move him this year and if they did there’s probably better options but man, if we could get him for a deal centered around Stew + whatever outside our starting 5 that would make me feel 100x better about this rebuild. Say we can lift the Knick protections, send Bogi back there or something and have Utah get a 1st, Stew, Hayes/Sasser/Livers…
Cade, Ivey, AT, Lauri and Duren would have me feeling so much better about this team and their balance/future etc. Lauri is 26, under contract 2 more years (~17m per) and a big shooting machine!
Then you go into offseason and just build a bench of all vets to mix in! Ugh, a guy can dream-huh?
The risk with a Lauri trade is he is 100% entering free agency unless he makes all-NBA and is Supermax eligible. Any extension can only be 40% higher so would cap around $25m per year. He will easily get a max as a free agent. Coupled with the fact that it will have to be a draft day deal with our first rounder + probably Ivey, it’s a super risky move for a guy who could walk after a year