Ever since the NBA Draft lottery happened, there's been plenty of speculation surrounding the Utah Jazz and Philadelphia 76ers becoming trade partners on Draft Night, specifically involving Lauri Markkanen and the No. 3 pick the Sixers own. On "The Bill Simmons Podcast," Zach Lowe revealed the one way in which the Jazz could agree to the deal: finding a home for Paul George.
When Simmons and Lowe brought up the trade possibility, the latter revealed that he'd like it more for the Jazz as long as they would make sure they wouldn't get George in return.
"If you tell me - I'm the Jazz - I can re-route Paul George somewhere else for something less damaging to my cap sheet for the next three years, and I get the No. 3 pick, then it starts to be somewhat interesting to me," Lowe said (1:03:00 mark).
That is the one caveat in a trade like this. While getting the No. 3 pick in a loaded draft class is pretty good value (as long as it doesn't come at the cost of the No. 5 pick), absorbing George into their payroll for three years as he's coming off a bad season and will likely get worse, wouldn't be worth the price of Markkanen.
It was pointed out the other day that Markkanen still has a lot of value to the Jazz despite his numbers dipping in Year 3 in Utah. Trading him to Philadelphia for George not only bails them out of one of the NBA's worst albatross contracts, but they get a talent upgrade. The No. 3 pick has a lot of value, but not enough to justify taking his deal.
Utah likely wouldn't get an expiring deal if they rerouted George somewhere, but there is a scenario where they could get a less damaging contract in return. It would all depend on whether there was a team out there that would be willing to take George.
Don't laugh.
Who could talk themselves into Paul George?
As bad as George's deal is, there are teams out there with players on worse deals who could convince themselves to chase George. They would likely do so on the premise that last season was an exception to the norm for George and that he would fit better with them. At least, better than who they have on their current roster.
The two hypothetical teams in mind are Phoenix and Milwaukee. The Bradley Beal era has been a disaster for the Suns. With them planning a retool but not a rebuild, Phoenix could convince themselves that George fits better for them than Beal, as there wouldn't be much redundancy between him and Devin Booker.
The problem is that Beal has a no-trade clause and a 15% trade bonus. Along with being expensive to acquire, there's no telling if Beat would agree to be traded to Utah. That's why the Bucks might be a better trade partner in this regard.
While many speculate Giannis Antetokounmpo may ask for a trade, the Bucks won't do that until he demands as such. In the meantime, the Bucks still want to build a winner around him, but Damian Lillard likely won't play next season. Ergo, they could talk themselves into George.
Lillard's contract is shorter, his absence would give the Jazz's young guards more time, and it would allow the Jazz to stink without tanking. If the Jazz can get that No. 3 pick for Markkanen without compromising long-term cap flexibility, they just might pull off a trade like this.