Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen is entering the final season of his contract and is eligible to sign an extension next month, and the team is reportedly protecting its salary cap space in the meantime.

“They have not signed their draft picks to save cap space even though they’re way under the cap,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Friday’s episode of his podcast (33-minute mark). “And I was talking to some teams in the last few days who said that [the Jazz] basically shut down any conversations. They did the Russell Westbrook trade where they took on his contract and then they made him take a buyout.

“…They worked on that for a while to get him to take less money. And from what I’m told, some teams that have been talking to them about offloading more money there, the Jazz are telling teams, ‘We’re not using any of our cap space right now.'”

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon responded by saying Utah is likely eyeing a contract extension for Markkanen with those savings.

While the forward has been included in trade rumors this offseason, MacMahon said, “the Jazz—I don’t believe—are shopping him. But if you give them an offer they can’t refuse, they’d take it. There’s been nothing close to an offer they can’t refuse.”

Even if the Jazz are still multiple pieces away from serious contention and potentially in something of a rebuild after missing the playoffs the last two seasons, it is not surprising if they want to keep Markkanen.

After all, he is just 27 years old and coming off the best two seasons of his career.

The No. 7 overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft made his first All-Star Game in 2022-23 and then followed up by averaging 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 48 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from deep in 2023-24.

Markkanen has thrived in his two seasons with the Jazz and would have the opportunity to continue doing so with an extension, and the team may be saving money accordingly to keep him well into the future.