Lauri Markkanen Signed A 5-Year Deal With The Jazz Worth $238 Million That Keeps Him From Being Trade Eligible This Season

Lauri Markkanen will spend the 2024-25 NBA season as a member of the Utah Jazz. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Markkanen put pen to paper on a new, $238 million deal on Wednesday, a long-anticipated move that formally makes him ineligible to be traded this season and gives the All-Star forward a little bit of security.

Not long after Wojnarowski’s report, the Jazz formally announced the news.

Markkanen was eligible to sign a new deal on Aug. 6, but there was an interesting twist: You can’t be traded for six months after you agree to an extension, and because the NBA’s trade deadline for next season is on Feb. 6, this meant that Markkanen would have had a one-day window in which Utah could move him.

Reports in recent days indicated that Markkanen could wait a day to sign the contract offer from the Jazz, which would take him off of the market altogether. That is what ended up happening, and unless he ends up getting moved next offseason, Markkanen is now slated to be part of the long-term future with Utah, which could end up including a very high pick in the loaded 2025 NBA Draft.

Markkanen joined the Jazz ahead of the 2022-23 season as part of the trade that sent Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and has blossomed into the team’s best player during his two years with the franchise, including his first All-Star berth and getting named the league’s Most Improved Player in his first year. While he only appeared in 55 games last season, Markkanen averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds in 33.1 minutes per game while shooting 48 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from three.