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).

The Utah Jazz are one of the worst teams in the NBA and their goal for the rest of the season may be setting themselves up with a Draft lottery pick.

The NBA officially announced Wednesday a $100,000 fine to the Utah Jazz organization for sitting Lauri Markkanen out of the team’s game against the Washington Wizards on March 5, “as well as other recent games,” as part of the league’s Player Participation Policy.