According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Utah Jazz have signed Lauri Markkanen to the largest contract in his seven years in the league.

Markkanen has agreed to stay with Utah by signing a five-year, $238 million extension with the team. This deal comes after heading into the next season on an expiring contract, which while seen valuable by teams like the Golden State Warriors, the Jazz has decided to not trade him.

Even though he was extended to a new deal in the offseason, because of the timing, the 27-year-old is not eligible to be traded in the upcoming season.

Like mentioned before, multiple teams were interested, but the closest team to landing Markkanen were Golden State. However, the Warriors didn’t want to include Brandin Podziemski or Jonathan Kuminga into the deal.

This has led to both the Jazz and Markkanen to remain faithful to each other and continue their partnership well into his thirties.

In 55 games during the 2023-24 season, he averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Fans saw Markkanen shooting around 48% from the field and 39% from deep.

During an interview with ESPN 700, The Athletic’s Tony Jones, who is a beat writer for the Utah Jazz, suggested Lauri Markkanen is not leaving the team. In fact, he prefers to stay.

According to Jones, the 27-year-old and his family have taken a liking to Utah. Plus, head coach Will Hardy and Markkanen have a strong bond that allows for the forward’s game to grow and his career to continue to be a “breakout”.

“Lauri has really taken to Utah. His family has taken to Utah,” Jones said. “Obviously the Jazz can trade him between now and Aug 6th, and Lauri knows that, but Lauri has forged a really close relationship to Will Hardy. And Will has really found a way to unlock his career.”

A new contract can be signed on August 6th, but both sides can push back the date to continue negotiating a deal. It should be noted that if the date is pushed back, then he can’t be traded by the February 6th trade deadline.

However, per Jones, the idea of Markkanen being traded is unlikely. It doesn’t matter if it’s in this offseason or during the next season.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Denver Nuggets are finally getting the backcourt help they’ve been desperately seeking. With the formal sign-and-trade involving the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz, it will ultimately land Westbrook with Denver.

Los Angeles traded Westbrook, a second-round pick swap, and cash to Utah for Kris Dunn. Dunn is signing a three-year, $17 million deal with the Clippers. This leaves Utah buying out Westbrook’s contract for him to clear waivers.

After the 35-year-old clears waivers, he will be signing with Denver. The Nuggets have been in need of a guard since the departure of both Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Jackson.

For those interested in fun facts, Westbrook has been traded to Utah twice in his career. The Los Angeles Lakers traded him to the Jazz in 2023, where he signed with the Clippers. Now, fans are seeing Utah help Westbrook with another contract buyout to land with the Nuggets.