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Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen sat down with The Stein Line for a wide-ranging interview. One of the topics was how Markkanen felt being in trade rumors all summer, before signing a contract extension with Utah.
“I mean … it’s cool to know that you’re wanted and it means that you’ve done something right on the basketball court that teams would like to get you. .. I was able to take it pretty easy and not worry about it,” Markkanen said about the rumors of other teams pursuing him.
Those rumors were put to rest when Markkanen worked a renegotiation-and-extend contract to stay with the Jazz.
“Obviously I wasn’t a free agent, but it was more I had the ability to do the contract and kind of had the choice,” Markkanen said. “I don’t have to do it, but that was something I wanted to get done to stay with the team.”
One of the veteran forward’s reasons for staying in Utah is that it reminds him of his home country of Finland.
“It reminds me of home I guess. It’s very Finland-like — outdoors. I’m an outdoor person. It’s not as much water as we have in Finland, but like I said, I’m an outdoor person. I want to go outside,” Markkanen said of living in the Salt Lake City area.
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