Basketball is the family trade — both parents, Pekka and Riikka, played the game in Finland — and Markkanen grew up in Jyvaskyla before one dazzling season at Arizona made him the seventh pick in 2017. Traded to Utah in 2022 after stops in Chicago and Cleveland, the Finnisher found himself: an All-Star selection and the Most Improved Player award in 2023, followed by a five-year extension with the Jazz.
He remains the face of Finnish basketball, leading the national team at the 2023 World Cup, and that year became the first basketball player ever named Finnish Athlete of the Year.
HOW HE CAME & WENTHe came to Utah on September 1, 2022 in the Donovan Mitchell trade and turned into the face of the franchise, winning Most Improved Player in his first season here.
No photograph of this signature is online yet.
| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | UTA | 66 | 34.4 | 25.6 | 8.6 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 | .499 | .391 | .875 |
| 2023–24 | UTA | 55 | 33.1 | 23.2 | 8.2 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.5 | .480 | .399 | .899 |
| 2024–25 | UTA | 47 | 31.4 | 19.0 | 5.9 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | .423 | .346 | .876 |
| 2025–26 | UTA | 42 | 34.4 | 26.7 | 6.9 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | .477 | .355 | .896 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 4 SEASONS | 210 | 33.4 | 23.7 | 7.6 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | .474 | .375 | .886 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗