During a recent appearance on The Drive with Spence Checketts on ESPN 700, a radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah, Tony Jones of The Athletic stated that the Utah Jazz are almost certainly not trading Lauri Markkanen this offseason. This is great news for the Washington Wizards.

Jones also stated that Markkanen “doesn’t want to be traded,” and the expectation is that he will sign a contract extension with the Jazz in the first week or so of August.

There has been a ton of smoke around whether or not the Jazz could trade Markkanen, but things seem to be trending toward them keeping him around heading into next year.

Why is this great news for the Wizards? Well, because if Markkanen isn’t available on the trade market, then more teams around the league could be interested in a deal for Kyle Kuzma.

As Washington gets ready for the upcoming season, they will be entering the second year of their rebuilding process, but the first with their newly-established young core in place.

Kuzma could be a nice veteran to help lead the squad, but at this point, it might be better for the Wizards to trade him to a playoff team and get a solid return to help them in the future.

Markkanen and Kuzma both play the power forward position, but the Jazz big man’s elite efficiency from beyond the arc makes him the much easier fit on a lot of teams.

If he were to be available, almost every team around the league would have him higher up on their metaphorical trade board than Kuzma, and that’s not ideal for the Wizards.

However, if the Jazz are committed to keeping Markkanen and extending him, then some of the squads that might have rather had him could go after Kuzma on the trade market.

While it may not happen right away, a trade for Kuzma could be in the works this season, and Markkanen being off the market helps his value around the league.

Washington should strongly consider moving on from the forward while he is one of the better players available on the trade market.