Lauri Markkanen has been part of the trade talks since the off-season began. While the trades involving big names like Paul George and Klay Thompson were sealed early, the Finnish star has been playing the waiting game. Will he replace Klay or will he replace Donovan Mitchell? Moreover, several trade rumors almost convinced the hoops community that the Jazz star had agreed to a move. However, the latest picture from Finland has squashed all the rumors and instilled hope in the home fanbase, hoping for a retention.

It’s been a while since the Jazz had a standout run in the league and Markkanen has brought back some sort of hope with his two-season run. The star forward averaged 24.5 points, and 8.4 rebounds along with an impressive three-point shooting accuracy of 39.5%. But the team finished as the 12th seed in both seasons. Even though Markkanen hasn’t improved championship opportunities for the Jazz, he has indeed developed himself into a central piece of the team.

Amid this situation, trade rumors involving Markkanen bombarded the NBA world. Especially, after the departure of Klay Thompson, several reports stated the Bay Area team’s desperation to rope in the star. While it caused a stir among the Jazz fans, the latest picture of Lauri has seemingly ended those rumors once and for all. The 27-year-old star linked up with Utah’s sophomore star Keyonte George in Helsinki, Finland, at a practice facility.

While an NBA player is free to travel anywhere in the off-season. The 20-year-old’s trip to meet Markkanen indeed sent a message to a lot of people. It’s not only to keep the fans happy but also a statement to the front offices. Notably, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne had revealed that it’s not just the Warriors, but “there are 3 or 4 other teams calling Utah about him (Markkanen).” However, after seeing this unexpected union, the community doesn’t want the Finnish star to leave, all the more.

Lauri Markkanen and Utah’s fanbase “has seen enough”, as they hope for success with the “newly formed duo”

The first comment that popped up reflected every Jazz fan’s sigh of relief. The comment read, “Yeah he’s not leaving i’ve seen enough.” It wasn’t just this one comment. A majority of fans posted similar lines. Another fan wrote, “Pls let this mean he won’t be traded.” 

Hilariously, another fan went a little overboard and threatened the franchise. They wrote, “Trade Lauri and we abandon the team.” The message was loud and clear from the fans. Following the back-to-back Finals run in 1997 and 98, Jazz hasn’t gone anywhere close to the NBA championship. And in the last 17 years, the team hasn’t gone past the Conference semi-finals!

Despite the poor run, fans have remained loyal. Now, they ask for a favor in return, which is to extend Lauri or they abandon the team. Meanwhile, another section of fans who were already confident that Lauri wasn’t leaving, addressed the duo in the picture. Keyonte George impressed everyone in his rookie season, averaging 13 points and 4.4 assists. While George has already shown his spark, the home community can expect more from him in the upcoming seasons.

Speaking of which, a fan wrote, “Okay, this could be a newly formed duo.” Another fan wrote, “Our fucking future is now ,this guys remember me anothers team player olders,GO.” While there isn’t any clarity on who the fan referred to, we guess it could be the deadly combination of Karl Malone and John Stockton, who played 1412 games alongside each other without winning a title.

Will the Utah Jazz re-sign with Lauri Markkanen and finally go all the way? Let us know in the comments below.

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