I wrote yesterday about whether the Utah Jazz should trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and you can read that here. But that’s not the trade the Jazz should make; they should make something geared around Damian Lillard.

Here’s the trade:

Utah acquires: Damian Lillard, an unprotected 2031 1st, and a pick swap in 2032.

Milwaukee acquires: John Collins, Collin Sexton.

This does multiple things for both teams. Milwaukee receives two solid starting-caliber players: John Collins and Collin Sexton. Both players can play with Giannis with their ability to spread the floor. They’ve both been having huge resurgences in their careers and could absolutely contribute to a winning season in Milwaukee, providing much-needed depth. On top of that, both players have expiring contracts, allowing Milwaukee to go after someone in free agency to play with Giannis, if they want to move on after next season. Considering Giannis is under contract for at least two more seasons, why wouldn’t they want to try at least to keep him? They can’t tank for years, and so they might as well try to win and keep their hall-of-fame star.

For Utah, they can make a trade that moves two veteran players they’ve been trying to move for years. They bring on an incredible future pick and swap that has potential to be great. Utah also has huge incentive to tank next year because they owe their pick to OKC if they’re not in the bottom eight of the draft. This allows them to develop their youth another season without having to do strategic resting all season. The Jazz still have to find a Lauri Markkanen trade partner, but this is a great start. And let’s not forget that having Damian Lillard, who has history in Utah with his college years in Weber State, can be a huge positive influence for the youth on the Jazz. If you’re moving veterans, what better way to fill that void than with a hall-of-fame guard who can be a coach in the locker room?

This makes too much sense for both sides and I wouldn’t be surprised if something like this is exactly what happens this offseason.