It’s been well documented that the Golden State Warriors have coveted Lauri Markkanen for nearly two years, making several trade offers to the Utah Jazz for the All-Star. However, the Warriors failed in their pursuit of the sharpshooting forward due to their reluctance to trade Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski.
Could the Warriors regret not pulling the trigger on a trade for Markkanen? Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz made a case for the Detroit Pistons, a team on the rise, to add Markkanen to their roster and inch a step closer to title-contention status. The writer floated a trade scenario that would see Utah receive invaluable draft assets.
Pistons would receive: Lauri Markkanen
Jazz would receive: Ron Holland, Tobias Harris, Marcus Sasser, 2026 first-round pick (unprotected), 2028 first-round pick (unprotected)
How the Trade Helps Both Teams
With the Jazz seemingly building around their young core of Ace Bailey, Keyonte George, Walter Clayton Jr., and Walker Kessler, they may be best served to part with the 28-year-old Markkanen and instead invest in more foundational pieces.
Swartz made a case for the Jazz to add Holland, 20, to their young core, while explaining why it was imperative for the franchise to tank the 2025-26 season.
“The young roster isn’t ready, and there’s real motivation to be bad,” he wrote. “Utah’s 2026 first-round pick is owed to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it stays with the Jazz if it lands in the top eight picks. If not conveyed next year, the Jazz will no longer owe a pick to OKC.
“Trading Markkanen, the team’s best player, is essentially guaranteeing Utah its 2026 pick in a draft that will feature BYU star freshman A.J. Dybantsa. The Jazz also get two unprotected first-rounders from the Detroit Pistons starting next summer.”
Pistons Ready to Take Next Step?
J.B. Bickerstaff’s Pistons were the biggest surprise story of the 2024-25 season, as they upped the win tally from 14 to 44 within a year, emerging as one of the East’s hottest young teams. Furthermore, they pushed the New York Knicks to the brink in their first-round playoff series despite the injury to blossoming star guard Jaden Ivey.
Could the addition of Markkanen help them take another step in the 2025-26 season?
“Markkanen, 28, is in the prime of his career and joins a potential Pistons starting five that consists of [Cade] Cunningham, Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren with [Caris] LeVert, Duncan Robinson, Isaiah Stewart, Paul Reed and others off the bench,” wrote Swartz.
“In the East, this is a group that can now challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks for a spot in the Finals.
“Markkanen is just what Detroit needs as a floor-spacer between Thompson and Duren and a safety valve for players like Cunningham and Ivey to deliver the ball to.”
The writer also explained why the Pistons could use Markkanen’s long-range shooting.
“Of the 16 playoffs teams this past season, Detroit ranked 15th in made threes and 14th in accuracy. Markkanen would do wonders in the Pistons’ outside attack while serving as a big cutting target for the young guards on this roster to find.”
The Warriors are likely monitoring the Markkanen situation, given that the Finnish star has been putting up monster numbers in the FIBA EuroBasket exhibition games.
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