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76ers Have Talked About Paul George Trade with Surprise West NBA Team: Report

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Jun 18, 2025 5:35 PM ET

The Philadelphia 76ers' Paul George experiment may be a pricey one-and-done situation.

Following five title-less years with his hometown L.A. Clippers (although technically George is from Palmdale, outside of Los Angeles), the nine-time All-Star forward was inked to a lucrative four-year, $211.6 million maximum contract with Philadelphia in what was considered the free agent signing coup of the 2024 offseason.

Instead, the 76ers went 24-58 and missed the playoffs, amidst major injuries to George, All-Star center Joel Embiid, and All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey. Even when healthy, the team struggled to gel together meaningfully.

George showed significant signs of athletic decline, and looked like a worse version of the player they just let walk in free agency, Tobias Harris, whom George was essentially replacing.

Across 41 healthy games this past season, the 6-foot-8 Fresno State product averaged 16.2 points on .430/.358/.814 shooting splits, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists — that represented his worst scoring output since his sophomore season in 2011-12, and his second-worst rebounding rate ever.

Now, Philadelphia may be looking for an exit strategy.

In a recent episode of the "Locked On Jazz" podcast, The Salt Lake Tribune's Andy Larsen reported that the 76ers have talked about a potential trade of George to the Utah Jazz. As Evan Sidery of Forbes notes, Philadelphia and Utah would flip their respective Nos. 3 and 5 draft picks in the exchange.

The Jazz and Sixers have discussed a trade framework that would send Paul George to Utah, per @andyblarsen (https://t.co/yNuu6uHBvU).

Philadelphia would trade back from No. 3 to No. 5 while attaching George’s contract in the potential deal. pic.twitter.com/zYnYk9c6dx
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 18, 2025

In this scenario the 76ers would get off the 35-year-old George's onerous contract and remain in the draft lottery, while the Jazz would be able to move up to snag a supposedly more highly-regarded prospect in this month's 2025 NBA Draft.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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