How the Jazz could benefit from the Kawhi Leonard situation
The Utah Jazz have the opportunity to be either hindered or helped by the Kawhi Leonard injury. The Clippers don't have the roster they have had before and could have a pretty tough time without Leonard.
However, the Jazz could help the Clippers salvage the situation at hand which benefit their own situation.
The Jazz want as few bad teams in the NBA as possible if they want to get a top-five lottery pick, so helping the Clippers only increases their lottery odds. They could offer a win-win scenario to the Clippers that could keep them in the playoff hunt until Leonard can return.
How the Jazz could help the Clippers
The Jazz have been hesitant to fully embrace the tank over the past few years, which has resulted in some good, not great, draft lotteries. With the top five players this year having high potential, the Jazz could finally accept the full tank by trading away a couple of their key players.
The Clipper can be a great trade partner with the Jazz to help the Clippers improve their roster and with draft picks as recompense. Specifically, the two pieces that could help the Clippers are Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton.
While the Jazz don't have any replacements for Leonard, they have some depth pieces that could help the team stay playoff-relevant until he returns. Sexton and/or Clarkson shore up the Clippers' backcourt and provide good complimentary pieces to Leonard and James Harden.
Sexton would be a good fit as an off-ball scorer to complement Harden, and Clarkson would provide a good depth piece at the guard position. Without Leonard, the Clippers do not have a consistent scorer outside of Harden. Sexton could be that scoring threat for the Clippers to remain relevant.
The Clippers and Jazz may have to get a 3rd team involved to make the trade work numbers-wise, it should be an option Danny Ainge considers if the Jazz get off to a rocky start.
This is a win-win for both teams
By keeping the Clippers' boat afloat while making themselves worse in the process, Utah keeps one competitor away in the "Capture the Flagg" sweepstakes. The further the Jazz keep the Clippers away from them in terms of tanking, the better their chances of getting a high lottery pick are.
More importantly, having one more team that's better than them also reduces the risk of potentially giving up their pick to the Thunder, who can have the Jazz's pick if they finish outside of the Top 10.
Before Kawhi's injury, the Jazz could have done this, but there wasn't as much urgency. Now, with him out indefinitely, a feasible trade between these two teams could certainly occur sooner or later.