Report: The Utah Jazz key player is been suspended from all sports for placing a bets against…..
If the Utah Jazz are planning to trade Lauri Markkanen this summer, they forgot to tell second-year guard Keyonte George.
George, the standout from the team’s 2023-24 rookie class is in Finland visiting Markkanen per the Jazz’s social media pages.
“Woke up in Helsinki,” the Jazz wrote in a social media post showing Markkanen with his around around George in Finland’s capital city.
Though players are free to travel however they choose during the offseason, George’s visit, paired with the team’s post seems to imply the Jazz aren’t particularly close to a Markkanen trade.
The Finnish forward is eligible to renegotiate the final year of his contract with the Jazz and can sign a multi-year extension beginning August 6.
The team can more than double his current $18 million salary for the 2024-25 season using available cap space, then negotiate an extension based on that number.
However, with few available free agents on the market, and Jazz CEO Danny Ainge’s proclivity for blockbuster trades, Markkanen has been a popular name for teams looking to add another star to their roster.
The Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Sacramento Kings have all reportedly inquired about Markkanen’s availability, but have yet to find a deal with the Jazz.
Despite Markkanen’s value around the league, the Jazz have maintained both publically and privately a desire to keep Markkannen in Utah long-term, and have positioned themselves to do so by preserving more than $30 million in salary cap space.
