The injury bug has hit the Los Angeles Lakers at the start of the 2025-26 NBA season, with as many as seven players currently on the sidelines. LeBron James and Luka Doncic are the most notable absentees, and if the former continues to miss time in the coming months, then Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz believes the Lakers should target a certain Finn.
Swartz named one trade target for every NBA team this season and went with Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen for the Lakers.
“If LeBron James misses extended time with sciatica or any other ailment, the Los Angeles Lakers are going to need more offense from players not named Luka Doncic.
“Lauri Markkanen may tie up the future cap sheets, but he’s an ideal starting forward to pair next to Doncic, and at age 28, is in the prime of his career.
“The 7-footer can knock down threes, put the ball on the floor and isn’t afraid to dunk over opponents in traffic. With or without James in the lineup, Markkanen would be a huge add for a Lakers team that needs to keep pace with squads like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets in the West.”
Markkanen certainly would be a good fit offensively with Doncic. You need to put shooters around the Slovenian, and the 28-year-old is indeed a sniper. You do wonder, though, if the Lakers missed the chance to get Markkanen at a lower price from the Jazz.
Markkanen had a very rough 2024-25 season. The one-time All-Star averaged just 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Jazz in the campaign. Markkanen wasn’t efficient either, as he shot 42.3% from the field and 34.6% from beyond the arc. His stock had dropped significantly after the season, and that was the right time to go after him.
Following that poor campaign, Markkanen impressed for Finland at EuroBasket 2025. He averaged 23.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.1 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game as the Finns made it to the third-place game. They just missed out on a medal by losing to Greece, but it was a positive tournament in all for Markkanen. You wondered if he would build on that when he got back to the NBA, and he has.
Markkanen, the seventh pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, is averaging 34.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game for the Jazz in 2025-26. He is shooting 50% from the field, but more impressively, is at 42.4% from beyond the arc on 11 attempts per game.
Markkanen just put up 51 points against the Phoenix Suns on Monday, and his stock might be higher than ever now. You’d expect his averages to drop a bit over time, but he appears to have gotten back to playing at an All-Star level. If that does prove to be the case, the asking price in a trade will be high.
The Lakers don’t have too many valuable assets they’d be willing to give up for Markkanen, who is making $46.3 million in 2025-26. You wouldn’t get him for a package that revolves around Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht if he’s playing at a high level.
The Lakers only have one first-round pick that they can trade this season (2031 or 2032), too, so they would have to give up someone like Austin Reaves. You’d imagine that is a route they wouldn’t want to go down, so it doesn’t look all too likely that Markkanen ends up being a Laker.
Also, Swartz stated that the Lakers need more offense from players not named Doncic, and they are getting plenty from Reaves. The 27-year-old is averaging 35.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in 2025-26.
Reaves is showing he can shine when Doncic and James are out. Would you like to have more quality offensive pieces around Doncic? Sure, but the defense is the bigger worry. Markkanen doesn’t solve that problem, so the Lakers would be better off targeting some good defensive players over him.
