Jazz may have hinted at plans for Lauri Markkanen vs. Kings

The Utah Jazz suffered their fourth straight loss to the Kings, making their winning streak this season still a spine-tingling moment. Understandably, Utah is still reeling from Taylor Hendricks' season-ending injury, but there was another realization.

With four seconds left in the first half, the Jazz substituted Lauri Markkanen for Kyle Filipowski, and the former did not return for the remainder of the game. The Athletic's Tony Jones reported why Markkanen was absent.

The Jazz trailed by 10 at halftime, 17 at the end, and more than 20 in the second half. Markkanen's absence had a big impact on how the Kings pulled away. It shows how important Markkanen is to the Jazz, but it could also mean something else.

No one is accusing the Jazz of inventing this injury. Markkanen is probably injured, but the question is, is he really so injured that he can't play?

Knowing that the Jazz have committed to Cooper Flagg, Markkanen, no matter how good he is, could be rested to increase the Jazz's chances of getting the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Many have wondered why the Jazz chose to keep Markkanen and re-sign him to a very expensive extension. The answer is pretty simple: you want to have both. They want someone who could be the cornerstone of their next franchise, who could be MVP one day, and who is ready to be a big piece of their championship puzzle now.

There's nothing wrong with this strategy at all, as the Jazz can afford to have two schedules since Markkanen will be with the team for the foreseeable future and they have plenty of young talent to develop right alongside him. The only downside is that this can happen more often, meaning more painful losses will occur in the near future.

This is all new territory for Jazz, because all too often they haven't really committed themselves to the tank. The last time they did this was 10 years ago when they tanked for Dante Exum. This experience should teach the Jazz that while tanking isn't the worst idea, it's no guarantee of future success.

It also requires selecting and developing the right players. For the Jazz, knowing their priorities, giving Markkanen a break makes sense, but they need to make sure it doesn't waste their time and prime.