Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[Mavs2021]

I'm telling y'all... the move to make is Cooper Flagg to the Jazz for Lauri Markkanen, 2026 1st round pick (get a commitment from Danny Ainge that the Jazz will continue to tank hard this season and end up with one of the 3 worst records in the league), and other future 1sts (the Jazz have plenty of picks).

Cooper isn't the messiah. He's a really good SF prototype, who has good athleticism, plays hard and does a little bit of everything well with the ball but he's not a master of any particular skill. The reason why he will be invaluable to the Jazz is because of demographics. His presence on the Jazz roster will give the fanbase hope as not many stars want to stay in Utah.

This trade will also give the Mavs hope, because Markkanen could realistically help the Mavs win the title (provided Kyrie and AD are fit and healthy in the business end of the season). Then the Mavs will hopefully be able to draft Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa or Cam Boozer to continue having hope for the future.

I don´t think Utah does this. I read Dybantsa (who I rate higher than Flagg) gets $7M to play at BYU after playing his final high school year in Utah. That´s basically all an advance to play for the Jazz. I also think Utah will send Markkanen to either Indiana/Atlanta/Memphis to get another top 10 pick (via the Pacers/Pelicans/Suns picks). So for the unlikely case this is not fixed, the Jazz can throw the kitchen sink at somebody to move up.