According to Monte Poole, Lauri Markkanen is the Golden State Warriors top trade target this summer. Poole was speaking on a recent episode of “Steiny & Guru” for 95.7 The Game. Markkanen has vastly improved since joining the Utah Jazz and appears to be a valuable trade commodity for Danny Ainge and Utah’s front office.
Markkanen’s size, perimeter scoring and versatile skillset make him the ideal fit within Steve Kerr’s five-out motion-based system. However, the Warriors would likely need to produce a significant trade offer to coax Utah into parting with one of their best players.
“Based on all I’ve heard so far, their number one priority is Lauri Markkanen,” Poole said. “He’s their number one target because Paul George went off the market on Saturday…Once that was gone, the Warriors were like ‘we have to scramble now, what are we gonna do?’…Markkanen is a guy that would be able to plug right in and play three or four.”
Markkanen, 27, played in 55 games for the Jazz last season. He averaged 23.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2 assists per game while shooting 48% from the field and 39.9% from three-point range. He would instantly help plug the gap Klay Thompson left behind while adding some much-needed size to the Warriors roster.
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Golden State has all the trade assets necessary to close a deal. If they opt against pursuing Markkanen, seeing who emerges as a potential star-level addition in the coming weeks will be interesting.
