Lauri Markkanen Wants To Remain With The Jazz
While the Utah Jazz may be looking to move the All-Star forward, Lauri Markkanen has publicly come out to say he wants to stay in Utah with the team.
In an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Markkanen confirmed to fans he hasn’t had a meeting with the Jazz regarding his future and that he wants to remain loyal to Utah and the fanbase.
He later went on to talk about the trade interest teams have in him and if he takes it as a compliment of his growing game.
“Yeah. And I’ve been traded, I guess, technically three times with draft night included,” said Markkanen. “Sometimes I knew about it. Sometimes I didn’t. So I kind of learned the business side of basketball. I’ve kind of learned to just go day by day and really put the work in and try to play to the best of my abilities and whatever happens happens, really. Like I said, I love being in Utah and it’s a compliment of what you’ve done in the past (that teams have interest). We’ll see. But yeah, I just want to emphasize that I really believe in what we’re building here with the Jazz. Go day by day. Do your best. That’s all you can do.”
The 26-year-old later assured the public he likes living in Utah and this state is not a problem.
“Oh, yeah. Love it. So we’d like to be there. We like the environment. It’s a pretty comfortable place to be.”
Utah traded for Markkanen as apart of the Donovan Mitchell trade. Ochai Agbaji, Collin Sexton, Markkanen, future first-rounders, and future first-round draft swaps were sent to Utah to allow Mitchell to come to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Rumors have placed the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Sacramento Kings as the main teams to have medium-to-serious interest in Markkanen.
