With the Jazz tanking and trying to land a top-three spot in the lottery, nobody expected to see Markkanen again this season.Except for NBA league executives. Markkanen, an All-Star in 2023, qualifies as a "star player" under the league's Player Participation Policy — the policy put in place a couple of years ago to ensure the league's biggest names are on the court for regular season games (trying to slow the trend of load management).

Utah, meanwhile, now has to be especially careful to play their best players so as to not get flagged by the NBA for further punishment. In playing Markkanen, Collins, Clarkson, and more veteran talents, games against the likes of Toronto could spell trouble for Utah's record.

On Wednesday the NBA announced that the Jazz had been fined $100,000 for violating the league’s player participation policy. In the press release from the league office, the NBA points to the Jazz not making Lauri Markkanen availble to play on March 5 against the Washington Wizards, “as well as other recent games.”