Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George were surprised by Luka Doncic's trade news.
- Markkanen felt secure due to his trade ineligibility, while George was nostalgic.
- Utah Jazz may continue trades, with players like John Collins potentially moving.
SALT LAKE CITY — Lauri Markkanen was about to head to bed on Saturday night when his phone started buzzing. It was the Jazz player group chat reacting to the Luka Doncic trade.
"That's how I found out," Markkanen said. "And, obviously, I didn't go to bed. You're in the social media wormhole after that."
Turns out, when big news happens, NBA players are just like NBA fans.
And in Keyonte George's case, the news almost sent him back to the days when he was a fan. He's from the Dallas area and grew up a Mavericks fan. He was shook by the news.
"That's the hometown, so I got all types of calls from my friends and family," George said. "They were all asking me if it was real."
George, though, had the same question when he saw the tweet from ESPN's Sham Charania breaking the blockbuster deal.
"I did think he was hacked, though," he said with a smile.
That was a fair thought. After all, how many times does a 25-year-old perennial MVP candidate get moved in the dead of the night? George said his friend kept repeating the same four words: "Luka to the Lakers."
The news was hard for anyone to grasp.
"I went through this last year. I mean, this is even crazier this year," George said. "That low-key spooked me. I honestly never thought I would ever see him leave. I don't know, I barely could go to sleep."
Markkanen's sleep was also quite delayed. He said he spent upwards of an hour texting and scrolling through his timeline as more details of the trade rolled in, which included the Jazz getting a couple of second-round picks and Jalen Hood-Schifino (it's still unclear what Utah's plans are for the second-year guard).
The good news for Markkanen? He knew he wasn't going to be involved.
Due to when Markkanen signed his extension this summer, he isn't eligible to be traded until after the season.
"It does feel good to kind of know that we're set for now," he said, with an emphasis on the "for now" part.
"I know once the deadline's passed and we're going into summer, it's always going to be the same thing again," Markkanen said. "But we're here now until somebody tells us otherwise."
However, Markkanen still may have a few different teammates by Thursday's deadline.
Utah has already made three moves this deadline — consolidating draft picks, moving Patty Mills and Drew Eubanks to get a second-rounder, and then helping consolidate the Doncic-Anthony Davis deal — and is likely not done yet.
The now-usual suspects of John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton are available, and don't be surprised if Utah moves on from one of its younger players if the right deal comes along. After all, the Jazz traded Ochai Agbaji last season. And, as Saturday showed, absoloutely no one is off the table anymore.
Walker Kessler was already coveted by the Lakers (and their fans) before Los Angeles moved Davis to get Doncic. Now, the team needs a big man more than ever.
"I don't really listen to a bunch of outside noise, because you don't know what's gonna happen. It's unpredictable," Kessler said. "But, obviously, I have my buddies texting me "Oh, you're going to LA!'"
It doesn't look like the Lakers would have the assets to intrigue the Jazz into making such a deal, but that probably could have been said last week about them getting Luka, so ...
"Even if they're not necessarily in rumors, everyone feels it," Kessler said. "But for me, there's no point worrying about it, wasting sleep over it, because if it happens, it happens. You trust in God's plan and you go from there; there's no point stressing about it. There are so many rumors and things. I'm sure there's a rumor I'm going to Shanghai or something — who knows."
To be fair, Kessler going to Shanghai still wouldn't be as shocking as the Doncic deal.
"This time of year is crazy, and it really makes you sit down and think," George said. "It's hard to talk about. I've never seen nothing like that before."
