235 million in 5 years! When he was abandoned by the two teams, he also wanted to get a big contract?
Recently, Michael Scotto of Hoopshype wrote about Jazz star Markkanen, saying: Considering the conservative salary cap growth projections, Markkanen can re-sign his contract with the Jazz and extend it early, with a maximum of $235 million for five years.
Markkanen's current contract is signed in 2021 and is only 4 years and 67 million, and his annual salary is 17.26 million this season and 18.04 million next season (only 6 million is guaranteed, and the time to turn to full protection is one day after the draft or two days before the offseason starts).
Markkanen, the seventh pick in the first round in the class of 2017, began his career with the Bulls, but during his time with the Bulls, Markkanen was plagued by a number of injuries and did not receive enough and proper development, so he was slow to play at a level that matched the pick.
In his four-year Bulls career, Markkanen left behind statistics: 15.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, shooting 44.0% from the field, 36.6% from three-point range, 84.5% from the free throw line, and 56.6% from the true field.
In the 2021 offseason, Markkanen became a restricted free agent, and the Bulls sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the form of a sign-and-trade, although a change of environment, Markkanen's positioning has not changed much, and he is still just an ordinary starter, and the data he handed over this year are: 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, and the true shooting rate is 58.2%, which is about the same as during the Bulls.
Until 2022, a deal changed Markkanen's career.
In the 2022 offseason, the Jazz disintegrated, and All-Star guard Mitchell was sent to the Cavaliers, and in order to get him, the Cavaliers sent Markkanen, Sexton, first-round pick Abaki, 3 unprotected first-rounders, and 2 first-round swaps.
The main body of this deal is Mitchell and five first-rounders, and although Markkanen has some development value, he may not be worth less than a first-round pick at the time, and the role is more to match the salary.
I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it to be played by Markkanen in Jazz.
Last season, Markkanen played in a total of 66 games for the Jazz, averaging 34.4 minutes per game, 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists, shooting 49.9%/39.2%/87.5% from three, and 64.1% true shooting percentage.
Due to the obvious improvement, the Jazz's early record is good (won 10 of the first 13 games), Markkanen was successfully selected as an All-Star, not only that, but he also beat Brunson, Alexander and others to be selected as the most improved player, in the final All-Star selection, Markkanen almost squeezed James into the third team, he is the player with the most votes among all the unselected forwards.
This season, Markkanen has shown his potential as a "Finland Nowitzki", he can attack with the ball, can shoot and cut in the air, can block, can cut the ball, can defend the inside, can follow the guard, except for the passing is a little weaker, in other aspects, Markkanen can satisfy all your fantasies of the modern basketball No. 4 position.
Looking at this season, so far, Markkanen's performance is still an All-Star, averaging 23.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, shooting 48.9%/38.2%/85.1% from three, and 63.0% true shooting rate.
The Jazz's goal now is to rebuild, but Markkanen is 26 years old and it is difficult to become the core of the rebuild, so I personally feel that the Jazz are unlikely to re-sign him with five years and 235 million, on the contrary, they are likely to send him away at this year's trade deadline, and there were also news reports before: If Markkanen is traded, the Jazz hope to get about five first-round picks, which is similar to the price of Mitchell and Gobert at that time.
Not to mention whether Markkanen is worth five first-round picks, by the 2024 or 2025 offseason, any team that gets him will need to face Markkanen's contract extension, and as long as Markkanen can maintain the level of the past two seasons, what awaits him at that time must be a five-year salary cap.
At this point, I have to sigh that Markkanen was an "outcast" role in the Bulls and Cavaliers, from being selected with the seventh pick to joining the Jazz, in five years, the fans who were optimistic about him back then probably gave up, and as a result, he successfully seized the opportunity in the Jazz, which once again proves that gold will always shine.
The current Markkanen is actually a rare high-quality No. 4 option in the small-ball era, and teams that lack the No. 4 position and want to produce results can be seriously considered, such as the Warriors, Hawks, Thunder and other teams, especially the Thunder, the existing lineup plus Markkanen, maybe they can fly higher.