Michael Lelchitski reminds us that Lauri Markkanen’s NBA career started with a similar trade as seen last year. According to the agent, the timing of the Finnish transaction was unusual.
Antti-Jussi Sipilä,
Roope Visuri
16:06•Updated 16:10
Lauri Markkanen received quite a bit of news the night before the opening of the European Basketball Championships, when the North American media started reporting on Markkanen’s trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz.
In the trade, one of the league’s stars moved from Utah to Cleveland Donovan Mitchell. Along with Markkanen, a fullback who was on the sidelines all of last season moved from Cleveland Collin SextonCleveland’s first-round pick this summer Ochair Agbaji and booking shifts.
– Of course, there is always such an opportunity in the NBA, but this was a surprise. The timing was a bit unusual, Markkanen’s agent Michael Lelchitski said to Urheilu.
What was Lauri’s first reaction to the deal?
– In these situations, it’s always a bit of a shock. It’s an emotional situation when you go through something like this unexpectedly. People don’t think about the human side of this, family matters, Lelchitski replied.
However, Lelchitski said that Markkanen is fine and reminds that his Finnish career started with a similar deal.
Markkanen was originally booked by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he transferred to the Chicago Bulls after the booking event. A star-level backer in a giant store Jimmy Butler was the biggest piece and moved from Chicago to Minnesota.
– Now Lauri will have a big role in the new team. Lauri is also in a good mental state to play a great season. I think the Susijengi experience will be wonderful for him. He gets positive momentum for the new season, Lelchitski said.