The NBA world is finally starting to slow down after another busy season and summer, but the league never fully goes to sleep. There are still some trade rumors floating around, and Utah Jazz big man Lauri Markkanen is among the biggest names who could get moved prior to next season.
One of Markkanen's known suitors is the Golden State Warriors, but according to veteran reporter Marc Stein, the two sides are on different pages in trade talks. The Jazz are interested in Brandin Podziemski, while the Warriors' offers have centered around Moses Moody. Notably, Stein said that the Warriors would be more willing to deal Jonathan Kuminga than Podziemski.
There is a belief in some corners of the league that Utah's interest in Golden State's Brandon Podziemski, in combination with future draft compensation that the Warriors could package with the All-Rookie first team selection, is serious enough that it keeps alive the prospect of a Markkanen trade between now and Aug. 6. That, as you've surely heard by now, is the first day Markkanen is eligible to renegotiate-and-extend his contract with the Jazz at a much higher number than his $18 million expiring salary for 2024-25.
Yet there is also a growing belief leaguewide that the Warriors would be more willing to move Jonathan Kuminga in a Markkanen trade — or any big-swing deal — than Podziemski. To this point, however, it must be noted that Golden State's offers for Markkanen have centered around a package featuring Moses Moody and draft compensation without including Podziemski or Kuminga.
Podziemski is coming off an impressive rookie season in which he averaged 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists, and shot 38.5% from 3-point land. He not only broke into the Warriors' rotation -- an impressive feat for a rookie under head coach Steve Kerr -- but seemed to have moved ahead of the team's most promising young players, Kuminga and Moody.
Here's what Kerr had to say late last season:
"I don't care if he scores or not. He is in every one of our best lineups. He is our best plus-minus guy (plus-3.8) for the year. He is really good, no matter whether he is scoring or not. I know, especially as a rookie, that he'll have ups and downs from a scoring standpoint, and right now, he is in a down period. But he allows other guys to play well just because of his recognition of what is happening on the floor, his cuts, ball movement, spacing. I'm thrilled with Brandin, and as long as he keeps playing as hard as he is, he'll be out there."
Podziemski's shooting, versatility and feel for the game explain why the Warriors want to keep him and the Jazz want to get him. It will be interesting to see which side blinks if they eventually agree to a swap that sends Markkanen to the Bay Area.
After letting Klay Thompson walk this summer, the Warriors are eager to add talent around Steph Curry and Draymond Green to keep their title window cracked open. Markkanen has blossomed into an All-Star caliber player and averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds last season on 39.9% shooting from behind the arc. There's no doubt he would fit around Curry, but how much of their future they'd be willing to mortgage to get him is something the Warriors are seemingly still debating.
The Jazz, meanwhile, are clearly targeting the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft if they're this intent on moving Markkanen. They are 55-67 with him in the lineup over the past two seasons, and at that pace they are just good enough to miss out on a top-three-to-five pick and just bad enough to miss the Play-In Tournament. Danny Ainge would rather add extra assets and tank -- potentially for Cooper Flagg -- than spend another season in no-man's land.
