The Philadelphia 76ers had their title hopes derailed by a relentless slew of injuries last season, but that came with a silver lining. Rather than convey their top-six-protected first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Sixers wound up winning the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft lottery.
The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs figure to select Duke forward Cooper Flagg and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper with the Nos. 1 and 2 picks, respectively, so the intrigue of the draft likely starts with the Sixers at No. 3. Rutgers forward Ace Bailey was the presumptive favorite for the third overall pick for most of the season, but Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe, Duke wing Kon Knueppel, Texas guard Tre Johnson and Duke center Khaman Maluach could work their way into consideration as the predraft process ramps up.
There's no guarantee that the Sixers are the ones making that pick on draft night, though. They're still in win-now mode with Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey all under contract, so they could look to flip that pick to pursue additional veteran help.
"Some teams expect the Sixers to be active in trade conversations, with names such as Kevin Durant (Phoenix) and Lauri Markkanen (Utah) as potential targets in packages that could include Paul George and the No. 3 pick," ESPN's Jonathan Givony reported Monday. "Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has made a career of being active and aggressive on the trade front, but historically, it's rare to see a top-three pick being traded."
Durant remains one of the NBA's most lethal scorers, but the Sixers would be crazy-town banana pants to trade George and the No. 3 pick for him given Embiid's uncertain outlook moving forward. If his balky knee continues to hamper him, not even prime Michael Jordan himself could carry this Sixers team to the promised land.
However, the Jazz could be a more sensible trade partner, particularly if they're also willing to put the No. 5 overall pick on the table.
A Paul Georgia-Lauri Markkanen star swap?
The lottery could not have gone worse for the Jazz, who entered with the league's worst record. The furthest they could fall was to No. 5, which is exactly where they tumbled to.
Going into the lottery, the Jazz were one of the teams most desperate to land the No. 1 pick. They're entering Year 4 of their post-Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell rebuild, yet they still do not appear to have a single franchise cornerstone on their roster.
It's unclear whether they believe Bailey or any of the other players who figure to be available at No. 3 rise to that level. But they'll have a better chance of finding that player at No. 3, when they'd have their pick of the non-Flagg/Harper litter, than they would at No. 5.
The question is whether they'd agree to swap Markkanen for George if it meant moving up two spots.
Jazz fans might recoil at the mere thought of that. George is seven years older than Markkanen and is fresh off a season in which he averaged only 16.2 points per game (his lowest mark in a decade) on 43.0 percent shooting. Granted, injuries played a large part in his struggles, including a torn adductor that he later said he "didn't even know" about.
George signed a four-year, $211.6 million max contract with the Sixers last summer in free agency. He's set to earn $51.7 million this coming season and $54.1 million in 2026-27 before a $56.6 million player option in 2027-28. However, Markkanen isn't earning much less than George over the next few years. He's about to begin the four-year, $195.9 million extension that he signed last offseason, which starts at $46.4 million and tops out at $53.5 million in 2028-29.
In March, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report said he had talked to "a ton of teams who tell me the Lauri contract is one of the tougher ones in the NBA." He added that "as teams are adjusting to the new CBA now more thoroughly, they have a different view of large contracts" such as Markkanen's. And in early May, he said "one Eastern Conference executive even called Markkanen's contract the worst in the league."
Like George, Markkanen's production also dipped last season, although the Jazz's shameless tanking contributed to that decline. Two years after averaging a career-high 25.6 points on 49.9 percent shooting and 8.6 rebounds per game en route to his lone All-Star nod and the league's Most Improved Player award, Markkanen averaged only 19.0 points on 42.3 percent shooting and 5.9 rebounds per game this past season.
If Pincus is correct and Markkanen's contract is viewed skeptically around the league, perhaps the Jazz would be willing to bet on a bounce-back season from a healthy George if it meant moving up two spots in the draft. He has only two guaranteed years left on his contract (along with the player option) compared to the four on Markkanen's deal, so the Jazz would gain significant financial flexibility at least one year sooner as well.
A framework like this should be tempting to the Sixers, too. Markkanen is earning roughly $5.3 million less than George next season, while the No. 3 pick ($11.1 million) will earn around $2 million more than the No. 5 pick ($9.1 million). That $7.3 million in savings could help the Sixers afford to re-sign Quentin Grimes while staying far enough below the second apron to use the $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception either on Guerschon Yabusele or another free agent.
If the Sixers don't see a huge difference between the prospects in the Nos. 3-5 range, the financial savings alone could make this an enticing deal. Flipping George for the younger Markkanen could give them insurance in case Embiid's knee injury continues to plague him, too. The Sixers could retool around Maxey, Markkanen, Grimes (assuming they re-sign him), Jared McCain and whomever they select with the No. 5 pick.
However, this framework might wind up being a pipe dream. Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports spoke to a source Monday "who threw cold water on recent reports" about the Sixers packaging the No. 3 pick to "acquire a vet/vet star." Besides, Utah might not be willing to flip Markkanen for George just to move up two spots in the draft.
But if nothing else, there's a case to be made for both sides to consider it.