Warriors offered ‘substantial deal’ to trade Lauri Markkanen – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

As Dub Nation anxiously awaits news regarding the Lauri Markkanen draft, general manager Mike Dunleavy and Warriors management appear to have done their part in attempting to land the star forward.

Golden State has extended a substantial offer to the Utah Jazz for the NBA All-Star big man, The Athletic’s Tony Jones confirmed Friday during an interview on 95.7 the Game.

“Golden State has an offer on the table and I think it’s a substantial offer,” Jones said. “(for Lauri Markkanen). The Jazz can only answer that question for themselves. That’s what they’re looking for.”

Jones also explained that while current offers are largely based on draft picks, Utah could look for an additional asset in the form of a promising young player to play with the Jazz in the future.

“I think the level of offers that are out there is substantial,” Jones said. “I think they’re largely based on the picks. I think with some of the offers, there’s one or two young players that have the potential to grow over the course of their careers.”

While Golden State’s offer is reportedly solid, the path to getting Markkanen could be complicated due to the draft capital the Warriors have.

“I think one thing that complicates Golden State’s package is that they (the Warriors) essentially only have two unprotected first-round picks (2026 and 2028),” Jones said. “You look at what Mikal Bridges picked a couple weeks ago, he picked five (first-round picks), and it wasn’t just five first-round picks. It was five first-round picks, plus trades, plus Bojan Bogdanović. I think all of that has to be taken into consideration when you think about what Lauri Markkanen could potentially pick.”

While Markkanen appears to be the big acquisition Golden State is looking for, the Warriors and Jazz aren’t in a desperate position to make a deal right away. There will likely be plenty of back-and-forth between the two sides, with a protracted negotiation likely to precede any potential trade for the star forward.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk podcast