New Blockbuster Trade Proposal Sends Lauri Markkanen to Atlanta, Utah Gets Assets to Start Rebuild

Would the Atlanta Hawks trade for Lauri Markkanen?

Feb 27, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) grabs a rebound against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA Offseason has slowed down and there are not many big moves out there left for anyone to make. The three players who still might be moved include Lauri Markkanen, Brandon Ingram, and Zach LaVine, but it seems like things have slowed down on those rumors. After making one of the biggest moves of the offseason by trading Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance, E.J. Liddell, Cody Zeller, and two first-round picks, Atlanta has been quiet. They still have roster moves to make and players like Clint Capela and De'Andre Hunter are still in trade rumors.

While the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs have been the teams mentioned the most for Markkanen, but what if the Hawks got involved? Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz put together a trade proposal for the Hawks to land Markkanen:

Atlanta Hawks Receive: F Lauri Markkanen

Utah Jazz Receive: F/C Onyeka Okongwu, G/F Dyson Daniels, SG Kobe Bufkin, 2025 first-round pick (unprotected via Los Angeles Lakers), 2025 first-round pick (top-12-protected via Sacramento Kings)

"The Atlanta Hawks did the right thing by punting on the Dejounte Murray experiment. As a result, they now have some extra draft picks and young talent to play with.

Unfortunately, this team still doesn't look better with Murray gone and has its next three first-round picks either owed outright or in pick swaps to the San Antonio Spurs. The Hawks should be trying to get better around Trae Young and Jalen Johnson, yet they will probably be worse than the team that won the No. 1 overall pick last year. If they win it again, the Spurs will reap the benefits instead.

Building a big, physical team around Young should be the goal. Markkanen is a 7-foot small forward who now becomes the Hawks' secondary scorer (23.2 points, 41.4 percent on catch-and-shoot threes) and part of a potentially huge starting five alongside Young, 6'8" Zaccharie Risacher, 6'9" Johnson and 6'10" Clint Capela. Atlanta would still have Bogdan Bogdanović, De'Andre Hunter, Larry Nance Jr., Garrison Mathews, Cody Zeller and others off the bench.

With the 2025 draft class projected to be one of the best in years, this trade would give the Jazz potentially five first-round picks to jumpstart the franchise.

They already own unprotected picks from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves and now add additional selections from the Lakers and Kings (top-12-protected in 2025, top-10 in 2026, turns into 2026 and 2027 second-round picks if not conveyed). Trading Markkanen also helps Utah's chances of keeping its own pick (top-10-protected, owed to the Oklahoma City Thunder).

The Jazz also get some good, young former first-round picks to add to their talent base. Daniels can't be aggregated in a trade until September 4, although making this into two separate deals (with Daniels going into a $6.4 million trade exception owned by Utah) would allow the two sides to complete the deal immediately."

While I like Markkanen and think he would help the Hawks, this is not a deal that I would make. Daniels is going to be counted on as one of the Hawks's best defenders at the point of attack and is an ideal fit next to Young. While Bufkin has had injury problems so far in his very young career, he has flashed two-way upside and I would not give up on him yet. If the Hawks traded Onyeka Okongwu, they would be left with Capela, Larry Nance, Bruno Fernando, and Cody Zeller at center. Capela and Nance are on expiring contracts as well, leaving the future of the position in doubt. If the Hawks trade those two picks, they will be left with just one draft pick in the next three drafts. Atlanta would be left with no picks and without three of their best young players.

There is an argument to be made that the Hawks should make a move to try and get better because they don't have their own draft pick, but I don't think adding Markkanen suddenly makes the Hawks better than Boston, New York, or Philadelphia, the projected top three teams in the Eastern Conference. If Atlanta made this move, they would have no assets to make another for a long time.

What the Hawks should not do though is rush through this again and try to make another big trade. That was what they did when they traded for Dejounte Murray back in the summer of 2022 and they can't risk doing it again. Atlanta made two crucial mistakes that summer and they were 1) rushing and thinking they were closer to contending than they really were and 2) trading for the wrong player in Murray. Murray is a good player on his own but he was a bad fit next to Young and the Hawks overpaid for him. Markkanen is a better fit than Murray, but it does not vault the Hawks to the top.

This summer, there have not been any reports linking the Hawks to Markkanen yet this summer, but he has been mentioned as a potential trade target before. Back in December, Yahoo Sports Jake Fischer had this to say about a potential Markkanen trade and mentioned Atlanta:

"Lauri Markkanen has indeed emerged as a fascinating, albeit unlikely trade candidate before February’s buzzer. The Jazz held designs of further competing in the Western Conference after Markkanen emerged as an All-Star in his first season in Salt Lake City, league sources told Yahoo Sports, as Utah engaged Portland about acquiring Damian Lillard and then Jrue Holiday before this season tipped. Moving on from Markkanen would mark a stark change of direction from trying to add an All-NBA caliber point guard to run Utah’s offense alongside Markkanen’s versatile skill set.

But Markkanen’s status already has and will continue generating significant buzz around the league if Utah continues entertaining rivals’ inquiries. It would be front-office malpractice not to at least understand what it would take to land Markkanen. League personnel believe three teams in particular value the Finnish forward at this preliminary stage of trade conversations. Two of those apparent suitors, Sacramento and Atlanta, make sense, considering the Kings’ and Hawks’ respective approaches for Siakam. The third team league personnel continue mentioning to watch for a potential Markkanen approach is Oklahoma City, suddenly second in the West with a trove of first-round picks."

The consensus has been that Utah might not move Markkanen unless they get a massive offer and those are usually the kinds of deals that Danny Ainge makes. Markkanen is going into the last year of his deal and is expected to land a massive contract extension. He might be the top player on the trade market and it has been a remarkable career turnaround for Markkanen. After being a solid but not great player with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, Markkanen has been an All-Star with the Jazz. This season, the 7'0 forward averaged 23.2 PPG and 8.2 RPG while shooting 48% from the field and 40% from three. He is one of the game's best offensive players and it would be easy to see why teams would want him.

The bottom of the Eastern Conference makes it to where Atlanta should be a play-in team with their current roster and it could even be a top-six seed if things break the right way. This is a better roster around Young and all of the pieces fit better, much like the conference finals team in 2021. I am not saying that this team will do that, but the team structure makes more sense than the past two seasons. There are still moves for the Hawks to make this offseason, including potential deals for Clint Capela, Larry Nance, and possibly De'Andre Hunter. the Hawks should continue to add the right pieces to their team, but making a blockbuster offer for Lauri Markkanen should not be one of those moves. Atlanta should stay patient and continue to build their roster, which they have done this offseason. It seems like Atlanta finally has a plan to build a roster around Young and they should not hit the accelerator on it too early again.