Lauri Markkanen's stats are down this season, but he says — and his coach agrees — that there's a good reason for that.

Lauri Markkanen scored 32 points and had a season-high three steals to lead the Utah Jazz to a 131-119 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

This Utah Jazz season hasn't provided fans many reasons to celebrate, and unfortunately, that's kind of the point. In an awkward era of Jazz basketball, a roster stuffed with an unbalanced combination of youth and age has been constructed with the goal of maximizing lottery odds.