Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob is putting up a hell of a fight to maximize Stephen Curry‘s remaining prime years after Klay Thompson‘s departure.
The Warriors are competing against two other teams to land Lauri Markkanen, the coveted All-Star forward of the Utah Jazz, according to The Athletic’s Tony Jones.
“Tteams have ramped up right like they’ve actually put tangible offers on the table,” Jones said on Sactown Sports 1140 on July 3. Sacramento has a tangible offer on the table. The Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs have a tangible offer on the table. They’ve expressed a lot of interest. To my knowledge, 20 teams around the league have called one way or another about Lauri in the offseason.”
Jones added the Kings have what they believed to be “a strong offer on the board.”
“It’s just a matter of, does it meet Utah’s threshold? And it’s going to be a very, very high threshold to meet to get the Jazz to trade him,” Jones said. “Here’s the thing, the Jazz are trying to figure out which way they want to go.”
Jones said the day before the draft, Utah attempted to land Mikal Bridges, whom the Brooklyn Nets ultimately traded to their across-the-borough rival New York Knicks.
“If they have gotten Bridges, they believe that there was something in free agency for them to do that would have been substantial,” Jones said.
Now, the Jazz are at a crossroads — whether to hold on to Markkanen or pivot to a full rebuild like the Nets did.
Can the Warriors meet Jazz CEO Danny Ainge’s high threshold?
Warriors’ Limited Draft Assets
As the Warriors have already traded their 2030 first-round pick (top-20 protected) in the Chris Paul deal with the Washington Wizards, they are only limited to two unprotected picks (2025 and 2027 or 2026 and 2028) with pick swaps in between to offer to the Jazz.
The Warriors, technically, can add their 2030 pick (if it falls from 1 to 19), but makes it trickier to convey for the Jazz. Ainge, nicknamed “Trader Danny” for his penchant for fleecing teams at the negotiation table, will definitely squeeze every ounce of the Warriors’ draft capital and maybe more.
Will the Warriors include Jonathan Kuminga if the Jazz asked for him? The Warriors resisted including Kuminga in their foiled bid to trade for nine-time All-Star Paul George, according to ESPN.
Is Lauri Markkanen Their All-in Move?
The big question the Warriors have to answer in the face of a bidding competition for Markkanen is how strong is their belief the 7-foot stretch big man can lift them back to the title contention?
The 27-year-old Markkanen is just entering his prime. He followed up his Most Improved Player and All-Star season in 2022-2023 with 23.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game last season.
The Finnish big man is a volume 3-point shooter, who is a career 37.5% shooter on 6.6 attempts.
If the Warriors go all-in on Markkanen, they will also have to prepare to pay him as he is entering the entering the final season of a four-year, $67.5 million contract.
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