Through the first seven games of the new NBA season, the Utah Jazz have confidently been one of the more disappointing teams throughout the entire league en route to their 1-6 start.

They're currently tied for last place in the Western Conference, are bottom six in the NBA for offensive and defensive rating, and they sit near the bottom-third of the league for field goal and three-point percentage, assists, steals, and turnovers. Nothing seems to be going right for the Jazz.

Tthose struggles have even led to some claiming that a Lauri Markkanen trade might now be a real possibility to consider. Moving the All-Star forward can give the Jazz a different look offensively, free up cap space, and claim value for one of the better talents this roster has seen over the past decade.

But that decision, while not an outlandish idea to consider––especially knowing that Markkanen has been stuck in trade rumors his entire team in Utah––isn't one that the Jazz should pull the trigger on... at least not yet.

Let's break down why the Jazz should hold off on such a big move:

Trading Lauri Markkanen Doesn't Solve the Jazz's Issues

Now, the Jazz and Markkanen have been no stranger to trade rumors or buzz throughout their time spent together. It seems like every year, there's always some chatter around whether or not Utah's front office should consider a move around the best player on their roster.

But the move doesn't really make sense for the Jazz. Because Markkanen's play––or lack thereof––isn't where to attribute Utah's early-season struggles. And trading him away might not help their team get any better either.

Markkanen hasn't played particularly well to start the year, let's not fool ourselves. He's played in six games so far this season to average 16.5 points on 38.5% shooting from the field and 34.3% from three, paired with 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists a night.

But even when Markkanen has had rough stretches throughout his time in Utah, his offensive versatility, ability to work extremely well off the ball, and near-decade experience in the league have always helped him turn things around one way or another.

On most nights, Markkanen gives the Jazz a unique blend of size, shot-making, creation on and off-the-ball, and some underrated rim finishing and defensive abilities that can make almost any lineup better when he's on the floor.

For the Jazz to turn things around for this season in particular, it feels pretty crucial that their holistic success has to come with Markkanen being a key piece of that shift, rather than him being removed as a component.

And even if the Jazz did want to make a move to send Markkanen elsewhere, they wouldn't get a ton of value in return for him right now anyways. He hasn't been playing extremely well or shooting efficiently through Utah's struggles, and his big contract certainly doesn't help his value either.

Opposing teams won't give up a ton of assets for a player stuck in that situation, even if his track record proves that he's more than capable of being an All-Star-level talent.

Bottom Line

Therefore, holding Markkanen throughout the rebuild process just to sell him for pennies on the dollar when the early season isn't going well feels like the definition of a panic sell. That's especially so knowing that any move to send out Markkanen probably doesn't make the team any better than it looks right now.

The best route for the Jazz to take in order to stablize from their early season miscues is to hold firm with their current young core in place, work to get back with a fully-healthy frontcourt including Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic, and continue to bank on that internal young talent and development.

Trading away Lauri Markkanen is not a part of that equation. And based on how the Jazz front office has operated throughout their past several years of having him in the building, combined with the hectic trade rumors to consistently surround him, sending him off in a trade probably isn't at the top of their agenda either.