Report: Pacers Called Jazz on Lauri Markkanen Trade Before Siakam Deal
The trade interest continues to generate around the league for Utah Jazz F Lauri Markkanen. Despite what has seemed to be a futile effort for any opposing team hoping to acquire him on the market, it hasn’t stopped a few from rolling the dice and asking.
According to a report from Zach Lowe of ESPN, the Indiana Pacers were the most recent team inquiring to Utah about the possibility of trading for their All-Star forward before they were ultimately turned down:
"It's hard to bottom out with an in-his-prime player as good as Markkanen. The same goes for Tyrese Haliburton, which is why the Indiana Pacers forked over Bruce Brown and three first-round picks to acquire Pascal Siakam -- on an expiring contract -- from the Raptors. In a nice bit of symmetry, the Pacers in prior weeks -- before they were sure Siakam would be available -- were one of several teams to call Utah about Markkanen, sources said. The Jazz in those brief talks showed zero interest in moving Markkanen, sources said."
Instead of trying to pry Markkanen away from Utah, Indiana pivoted to making their blockbuster with the Toronto Raptors to add All-Star and NBA champion Pascal Siakam to pair with their core headlined by Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner.
While it’s not difficult to see why a team may covet Markkanen, all signs up to this point have shown that the Jazz would rather build around Lauri instead of shipping him off for future assets. Recent reports described the Jazz being ‘determined’ to build around him headed into this offseason, so it’s hard to see the Pacers coming in to change their thought process.
Through the first 33 games played during his 2023-24 campaign, Markkanen has averaged 24.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists on efficient 49.8/39.8/87.7 splits. He’s been the backbone of the recent winning resurgence of the Jazz, eyeing what would be his second All-Star appearance if selected.
The goal for the Jazz moving forward will be focused on how this team can acquire more star talent and a complementary supporting cast to pair with Markkanen rather than sending him off via trade elsewhere.
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