League analyst floats Utah Jazz sending Lauri Markkanen to San Antonio Spurs to capture the (Cooper) Flagg

If the Jazz want to pass on playing NBA basketball for a season to switch to playing “Capture the (Cooper) Flagg,” we would not blame them.

If the Utah Jazz want to pass on playing NBA basketball for a season in order to switch to playing some “Capture the Flagg,” we would not blame them in the slightest. Especially given that the Maine native we are hinting at (Duke forward Cooper Flagg) could be one of the best stars to be drafted into the league in many years.

And should they move in such a direction, they would need to lower the level of talent on their roster, with Bleacher Report league analyst Andy Bailey having just the trade in mind to make with the San Antonio Spurs.

Bailey would have the Jazz send star forward Lauri Markkanen to the Spurs for Keldon Johnson, a 2025 first round pick, a 2026 first-round pick swap (via the Atlanta Hawks), a 2027 first (again via Atlanta) and a 2031 first round pick swap (via the Sacramento Kings).

Not a bad haul, if you ask us, though who knows if it would be enough for notoriously stingy Jazz team president Danny Ainge. “Markkanen is good and young enough to justify keeping … but Flagg has “best player on a title team” potential, and this trade would give Utah a better shot at landing him next summer,” he writes.

“For the … Spurs, adding Markkanen to a roster that already includes a rising top 10-15 player (Wembanyama, of course), Chris Paul … Devin Vassell and Harrison Barnes could have them back in the playoffs as early as next season.”

“Even if they can’t crack that group in the loaded Western Conference, a frontcourt combo of Markkanen and Wemby would, arguably, be the league’s best and most versatile,” adds Buckley — and we’re inclined to agree.

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