Utah Jazz F Lauri Markkanen Making Noise in NBA All-Star Voting

Markkanen was the only Jazz player to rank within the top 20 in the conference for fan voting two weeks in, meaning there's no sign of third-year guard Keyonte George just yet, despite putting together a career-best season in the first two months of the season.

However, for Markkanen, it might be a sign he's got a shot to make his second-ever All-Star appearance, and his first since his breakout 2022-23 campaign.

Lauri Markkanen Could Make Second All-Star Game

In terms of how fan voting may impact Markkanen's All-Star chances, those results would amount to much unless he's able to find his way into conversations about being a starter. And while the Jazz forward has had a superb season within the first two months, he's not too close to claiming those honors.

So for the Jazz star, more likely than not, he'll have to get his All-Star nod via a vote from the coaches as one of the seven reserves in the Western Conference; a deep and talented pool of players to choose from, but certainly not one that Markkanen won't have a chance to poke his head into.

In the 27 games he's suited up for this season, Markkanen's on a career-best tear of averaging 27.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 47.6% from the field and 36.7% from three––leading the Jazz in scoring next to George's 24 points a night, and helping lift Utah to a pretty stout 12-19 record through it all.

Those numbers in his first All-Star campaign were even a step below what he's doing now, and while the Jazz may not be atop the conference, Markkanen's still well deserving of that aspired nod once again.

If he can sustain his current level of production for the next few weeks, it'll be really tough to keep him out of that mix of reserves, but time will tell what that fate holds once we get closer to the festivities in February.

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