In a pivotal offseason for the Golden State Warriors, they aim to elevate their roster by securing a fitting partner for Stephen Curry. Tim Kawakami of The Athletic suggests Lauri Markkanen as a potential addition among others. This hypothetical trade scenario involves the Warriors acquiring Markkanen while parting ways with Jonathan Kuminga and potentially other assets.
Kawakami suggests that Lauri Markkanen could be an ideal complement to Draymond Green, given his skill set and youthfulness at just 27 years old. Markkanen’s shooting ability, boasting a career 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, aligns well with Green’s style of play. Furthermore, Markkanen’s age positions him as a valuable asset for the Warriors as they transition into the next phase. However, Kawakami notes that if the Utah Jazz decide to make Markkanen available for trade, numerous teams would express interest. Yet, he highlights that unless Utah’s Danny Ainge is enticed by the prospect of acquiring future draft picks from the Warriors, a trade conversation may not materialize easily.
The one issue with trading for Markkanen would be that the Utah Jazz would likely want Kuminga in return. While Markkanen has proven to be the better player at this point in his career, the 21-year-old Kuminga has plenty of potential to be a high-level player.
The Warriors trading Kuminga would be for one reason: adding a win-now piece that fits with Curry. In any deal that involves him, the best ones would be landing a player who’d be young and can play at an All-Star level.
Josh Cornelissen of Blue Man Hoop wrote that it’s hard to think of a player who’d fit better than Markkanen.
“In terms of pure offensive basketball fit, it’s hard to think of a player who would fit better with the Golden State Warriors than Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen,” Cornelissen wrote on April 13. “The seven-footer was frequently compared to Dirk Nowitzki coming out of Arizona, and while he is not a future Hall of Famer the idea of adding a Dirk-type to the Splash Brothers is a mind-bending one.”
