Lauri Markkanen and the Utah Jazz made headlines on Tuesday when they agreed to a long-term contract extension that will run through 2029.
The deal will reportedly be worth in excess of $200 million.
While this is obviously great news for Utah and Markkanen, it is bad news for the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors and Jazz were very close to making a trade centering around Markkanen happen. In the end, one roadblock scuttled the proceedings.
Markkanen would have been a great fit with Golden State. So where do they go from here?
“The Warriors have 14 players under contract for next season and feel comfortable entering training camp and the regular season as currently constructed, team sources said, though they are expected to explore smaller-scale deals more actively than is typical in August and September…They’ve shown no appetite to enter the Zach LaVine or Brandon Ingram market,” according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
It will be interesting to see where Golden State goes from here.
As presently constructed, it is hard to see how Stephen Curry and his squad make any sort of meaningful playoff run.
Will the Warriors rue the day they let Markkanen slip through their fingers? Time will tell.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
