NBA Trade Rumors: Laurie Markkanen Lands With LA Lakers in Proposed Deal

The LA Lakers are still looking for a tried and true third star to make them into a championship team. Everyone loves Austin Reaves, but very few believe he is a true third star on a title contender.

Enter Laurie Markkanen. At least, that's the proposal from Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report. He figures that a big trade sending the 7-foot scoring machine to Hollywood is just the script the Lakers need to get LeBron James and Luka Doncic to write a happy ending to this season. Bailey's hypothetical deal looks like this:

LA Lakers receive:

Laurie Markkanen

Utah Jazz receive:

Austin Reaves
Rui Hachimura
Maxi Kleber
Dalton Knecht
2026 first-round pick
2028 first-round pick swap
2032 first-round pick

That is one huge haul the Jazz would receive, but if the Lakers really want to get back to being a legit title contender, adding Markkanen's scoring, inside and out, to take the pressure off Luka and LeBron, could be the move.

Laurie Markkanen would be a complementary fit alongside Luka & LeBron

Bailey calls Reaves' skill set "redundant" for Doncic and James, while Markkanen's is far more complementary.

The Jazz star has a four-year extension kicking in this year, so "Markkanen will almost certainly outlast LeBron in L.A. He's a natural fit as Luka's long-term No. 2," writes Bailey.

As for the Jazz, they would get a 27-year-old in Reaves who reached a career-high 20 points per game last season, though he will undoubtedly be a free agent at season's end when he declines his $15 million player option. Knecht is another young player they can get a free look at. Hachimura and Kleber are on expiring contracts.

But, as always, the gold mine for Jazz CEO Danny Ainge is the two first-round picks plus a pick swap.

Who says no to this potential deal?