As a spurs fan, I'm curious if the jazz would go for this. It's no secret ainge has wanted to aggressively tank to draft a star and luck hasn't been in his favor.

At this point I don't think keeping markkanen for the long haul makes sense to pair with a young draft pick. By the time that draft pick is productive and leading competitive bball, Lauri will be in his early 30s and exiting his prime.

Likewise, while I typically agree with the draft consensus to draft best player available, I don't think Harper makes sense with castle and fox. Additionally, I don't think the philosophy of having all your best players within a two year age range/contract timeline makes sense in the long run. I have a strong feeling the spurs will use the number 2 pick to improve their roster now. But instead of selling the farm and every draft pick to get Giannis, I think this type of move to raise the ceiling but maintain stability and a more natural escalating timeline is the smarter route.

The jazz flip markkanen and the fifth pick for the second pick and productive role players, one being a vet in Barnes and two others in young pieces still improving but already at a more productive stage in their careers. Vassell would slot in next to Harper perfectly in a starting backcourt and sochan, while a downgrade from markannen, is a do it all swiss army knife forward that could grow along Harper.

The spurs get a stretch forward to pair with wemby that's higher upside than sochan and ready to compete now alongside Fox while wemby and castle keep growing. While there's a big dropoff in the draft after Harper, getting markkanen along their core would allow them to more reasonably target role players rather than continuing to try to fit high draft picks with each other.