Trade for Paul George no longer imminent
By Ben Gibson
After a few days of waiting for the Paul George trade to happen, Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star reports that a trade is no longer imminent.
You’ve patiently been waiting for the news of a Paul George trade to happen. You’ve been reloading Twitter, waiting for the news to cross, knowing the moment you looked away, the Indiana Pacers finally would make a trade.
Well, you’re going to have to wait a little longer.
Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star is reporting that the Pacers are mulling over multiple offers and no longer feel the pressure to get a deal done before the draft on Thursday night.
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"With the draft approaching, the Pacers, according to sources, are optimistic that other teams’ offers for George will become more enticing Thursday afternoon before the draft that night. Pritchard wants to receive the most compensation possible in exchange for George, but the All-Star’s value throughout the league, especially with his known desire to join the Lakers, is limited since he’s likely to only spend one season with his new team.Those factors, according to a source, could lead the Pacers into taking offers throughout the summer, and potentially into training camp, to complete a deal. If a trade is agreed upon, George plans to play out his contract and become free agent next summer.One source said George’s trade value would continue to drop in the league if a deal is not in place and finished after the draft. Such a situation would potentially put the Pacers in one of the most tenuous positions in the league entering next season."
Whether this is a tactic by Kevin Pritchard to create pressure on the Los Angeles Lakers or any other team is hard to say, but real or not, it gives the impression there is still a market of some sort for Indiana.
Earlier this week the Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski was confident that Pritchard was creating that market for PG, but that was before the D’Angelo Russell trade. That trade may well have undermined any leverage Pritchard had, but time will tell us by how much.
Indiana remains in a tough situation as George’s trade value is limited due to his camp making it know his preferred destination is Los Angeles, but it is still in the Lakers’ best interest to act now.
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Taylor also stated Paul George told Pritchard of his intentions to avoid a Kevin Durant situation, but judging from reactions so far, fans don’t see it that way.