Jazz’s Price Tag Revealed for Lauri Markkanen Trade With Pistons

The Utah Jazz have always held a high asking price on their star forward, Lauri Markkanen, in any trade rumors that may have featured his name in the past couple of seasons.

And with the way he’s started his 2025-26 campaign, that high value certainly won’t be changing anytime soon. If the Jazz ever do trade their franchise cornerstone, they’re bound to get premium assets in exchange for him, especially if he’s playing at the level he’s been performing at this season.

To give some perspective on the Jazz’s asking price for a Markkanen trade with a potential team that could be interested— the Detroit Pistons— Jake Fischer of the Stein Line reports that Utah would want Ausar Thompson in any package; someone they’ve had interest in when he came into the league as a prospect, and a player that can keep them competitive in the near future.

“Another likely obstacle that should be factored into the persistent Markkanen-to-Detroit speculation: Utah would almost certainly want Thompson in return. Sources say that the Jazz, in fact, considered trading up to select him during the 2023 NBA Draft.”

“The Pistons, as you can imagine, do not want to trade their Thompson twin. The Jazz hope to be competitive in 2026-27 and have signaled to rival teams that any trade offers they are prepared to consider — whether they target Markkanen or otherwise — have to keep them competitive.”

Jazz Want Ausar Thompson in Any Lauri Markkanen–Pistons Trade

Of course, the Pistons would probably do anything they could to prevent their young star wing from being included in any Markkanen move. Thompson has been a core part of the Pistons’ early-season success. However, if the Jazz were to make a bold trade surrounding him, they’d have to get a premier return, which in this case, would be the Thompson twin.

During what’s been his third season in Detroit, Thompson has been filling in as a nightly starter and top wing defender to average 12.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per night, helping Detroit navigate to the top of the Eastern Conference in the process.

On paper, he’d be a super appealing fit for Utah, and a major fix for their defensive woes of the past three seasons. But unless Detroit were to get extremely aggressive in their pursuit to push their chips in for an all-in move, a Markkanen blockbuster appears to be a bit of wishful thinking from both sides.

Markkanen’s kicked off a career year in Utah, and already had a high trade price from this Jazz front office before he broke out onto the scene for another leap forward. If a trade was tough to put together before with Utah, it’ll be even tougher to pry the one-time All-Star away now. 

Things can change over the course of the season, and perhaps closer to February’s deadline, but for now, expect the Jazz to hold their cards on a Markkanen trade until a deal they can’t refuse comes their way.

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