RealGM

Step 1: Trade for Lauri Markkanen on draft night

76ers get: Markkanen
Jazz get: Player selected at 2024 76ers' first (with the Jazz telling the 76ers who they want), 2028 Clippers first, option to swap worst Utah first with best of 76ers and Clippers (top 3 protected) first in 2029, 2030 76ers first.

If the 76ers win a playoff series, the Jazz also get Paul Reed in this deal (as Reed's contract becomes guaranteed if the 76ers win a playoff series)

Why for the 76ers: Get a cheap star player that allows them to still sign Paul George for a large contract.
Why for the Jazz: Blow up the team to tank for a superstar and get some very interesting picks back

Step 2: Release Paul Reed if the 76ers do not win in their first round playoff series

(Reed's contract is non-guaranteed if the 76ers lose in the first round, they need cap space for other guys and will hopefully find a league minimum guy to replace him with)

Step 3: Sign Paul George to a 4 year, $179.2m contract starting at $40m.

I think this is a pretty bad overpay at this point that the Clippers would never be willing to match. George is really old and has had a great year in three years at this point, but George can probably still contribute for two more years at at least a very good level before the bottom falls out. This leaves the 76ers with roughly $10m in cap space.

Note: I am uncertain if the over 38 rule would prevent Paul George from getting a four year deal as George turns 38 in May 2028. I thought it would, but I've seen no one mention this with regards to Paul George so I guess not...? If the 76ers cannot offer a fourth year, this becomes much more difficult as Paul George would likely rather take his $50m player option rather than sign a 3 year deal starting at $40m.

Step 4: Sign Royce O'Neale to a four year, $40m deal starting at the remainder of the cap space for the team

Another overpay in the long run, but this is a two year all-in window we're going for here.

Step 5: Sign Malik Beasley to the room MLE

They need bodies and to use the room MLE and Beasley is basically as good as it gets here.

Last step: Sign Kyle Lowry, Nic Batum, Bismack Biyombo, Robert Covington, Keita Bates-Diop, and Alex Len to vet minimums

Andre Drummond would be better here than Len, but I think he'll take a little more than the league minimum.


Rotation:

Maxey/Lowry
Royce O'Neale/Malik Beasley
Paul George/Bates-Diop
Markkanen/Batum/Covington
Embiid/Alex Len/Biyombo

Great plan, but if Lauri is traded there will be better offers

That’s a great plan, but I have a hard time seeing Utah making that trade. I mean it’s fair, but there is high variance on those picks with the likelihood of drafting a player better than Lauri quite slim.

I think for PG13 he would be wanting a bigger salary than that to make it worth him opting out. I think he probably stays in LA and the clips don’t mind paying him. He still has some star level basketball left for sure and the clips have a window…even if really tight.
Your scenario is not unrealistic but I do think it’s a best case and not likely.

The 76ers do have two good picks left in the chamber here (2028 as well as a 2031 swap) if Utah demands more fwiw.

OKC would blow that offer out of the water IMO.

BlazersBroncos wrote:OKC would blow that offer out of the water IMO.

I mean, yeah, but do they want to?

They could have added Markkanen at the deadline and instead did nothing but salary dump Micic for Gordon Hayward's corpse. I don't really know what they want to do, them salary dumping at the deadline confused me a lot. They have no player on the roster who can defend Jokic, what's the plan here? IDK.

HadAnEffectHere wrote:

BlazersBroncos wrote:OKC would blow that offer out of the water IMO.

I mean, yeah, but do they want to?

They could have added Markkanen at the deadline and instead did nothing but salary dump Micic for Gordon Hayward's corpse. I don't really know what they want to do, them salary dumping at the deadline confused me a lot. They have no player on the roster who can defend Jokic, what's the plan here? IDK.

Are we sure Lauri was avaliable at the deadline?

I personally think they did the Hayward trade to open up space this summer to target PG13, but dont think it works for them.

I think that Lauri offer is beat...so I'm the 76ers...I'm making an offer for Naz Reid the Wolves would be in financial trouble with the KAT extension...Send a decent FRP and absorb his salary.

No reason for UTA to accept that deal.

Assuming this all goes down as planned, they would then Max Maxey and like max Lauri for 25/26. They would be around 180 million for 4 players then…which is fine but flexibility will be really limited.

Poor Tobias.

It’s easy to say Presti can kill that offer, since Presti can kill everyone’s offer.

This would be a great offseason for Philly. But if you get Paul George to sign, you might not really need to pay for Lauri? Might be a decent with that value, but if Utah needs an overpay think you’re okay building roster around the other three stars.

For an unextended Lauri I think this is the best offer we could reasonably get. I think the R+E route is by far the most likely, but I wouldn't be furious with this as an option if for some reason he wasn't open to that, or if we wanted to tank for 2025 (b/c he can't be traded for a season after signing a veteran extension, as I understand it).

Kinda the least important stuff here but:
I would rather have Paul Reed than Royce.
I assume Utah would rather have Paul Reed than cap space, so even if he is unguaranteed he could still be traded there versus cut.

I think it all hinges on what Ainge wants to do long term. Jazz really need to pick a direction this offseason.

There are a few super prospects coming out in the '25 and '26 drafts that have Utah written all over them. Cooper Flagg just looks like a Utah player and Carlos Boozer has already stated he would love to have his sons with the Jazz. If they are going to be bad enough to land one of those type prospects they obviously need to get worse, at least for one full season while developing the kids on the roster. They would likely need to compete with the likes of the Wizards, Blazers and Pistons for the best shot at the most lottery balls.

Ainge typically wants to win every trade especially for a player of Lauri's caliber so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Either the Jazz potentially take less than a warchest of value for an expiring Lauri with an eye to the '25 draft, or they renegotiate/extend and likely forget about being bad enough to land a top 3 pick next year. He never really had to make this type of decision in Boston especially when he had all those Brooklyn lottery picks in his back pocket. Lauri is good but he's not prime Paul Pierce where you can build a championship team around him.

theBigLip wrote:Poor Tobias.

This is my first thought... After all this crap, all he is cap space to be dropped.

uraverage wrote:

theBigLip wrote:Poor Tobias.

This is my first thought... After all this crap, all he is cap space to be dropped.

It’s the only way you get a chance at PG13 or similar. Has to be done. I don’t know how many years Embid can stay dominant. The window is now. And I hope you’re successful so you can take out Boston

That Jazz offer is weak, Memphis and OKC are in way better positions to make that trade. Also highly doubt PG is leaving home.

My offseason plan would be:
RENOUNCE;
Harris
Hield
Melton
And Covington
Next step sign a big name free agent;
Paul George, LeBron,OG Anounby, Miles Bridges.

Next trade for a top level guard:
Mitchell or Murray
Do our best to resign the rest of the roster.
Possible lineup:
Pg. Murray
Sg. Maxey
Sf. George
Pf. Batum/Oubrea
C. Embiid.
Bench: Lowry,Payne,Batum,Reed, Bomba

theBigLip wrote:Poor Tobias.

Dude, Tobias has been paid 150% of his market value for years and will probably get another big contract from a crappy team .