Paul George isn’t going tell us his future plans any time soon, but nonetheless the Indiana Pacers must contemplate a team without him.
Paul George is likely one year away from free agency — assuming he declines his player option for the 2018-19 season. But the reality of the situation is even before then Paul George might wear something other than an Indiana Pacers jersey next season.
Rumors swirl around one of the NBA’s best players as the Pacers are left to wonder what’s the truth right now. Will he remain a Pacer? Is he going to force a trade? Does he want to leave after next season?
More simply put, does Paul George want to stay or go?
However, the answer to that question is ambiguous at best.
Does Paul George want to stay with the Indiana Pacers?
Right now, I think he does. Or at least isn’t a sure thing to leave. It really depends on what Indiana does next.
If the Pacers can make the right moves and build a true contender this offseason, George might stick around. Even beyond winning a title, PG might want to have a legacy and legend like Reggie Miller. The Pacers just need to make some moves and fix the problems that reared their ugly heads this season.
The problem right now for Indiana is that’s a very big if.
The moves of the past few years both failed to build a team that can contend now and hampered the chances of fixing it for next season. They don’t have cap room to sign the more expensive free agents nor do they have any trade assets other than draft picks.
If Indiana wants to make a trade to tip the scales in their favor, they will mortgage their future by trading trade picks. But that doesn’t guarantee Paul George will stay, either.
Does Paul George want to join the Los Angeles Lakers?
I also believe that Paul George wants to wear purple and gold of the Los Angeles Lakers. According to Mitch Lawrence of Sporting News, he hasn’t hid this from the Pacers.
Los Angeles is his hometown. It is a big city with good weather and many other reason to want to live there.
Even though the Lakers aren’t contenders right now, the city they call home is PG’s as well. On top of that, Paul might have dreams of being the player that brings the Lakers back to prominence as well.
Does Paul George want to play for a title contender?
Of course he does, and he hopes Indiana might be that team. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he is looking elsewhere as well considering what just happened in the playoffs.
Earlier this year, he had kind words for the top seeded Boston Celtics, who could use another All-Star and the assets needed to acquire one. Paul George knows what success feels like, and he wants to feel it again. Don’t be shocked if those rumors reignite once the Finals are over.
But whether it is Boston or some other contender, Paul George probably wants to play for them.
Wait, how can all of those things be true?
Think about when you look at a menu at a restaurant and there are multiple meals that you want. You can want the steak, or the chicken, or maybe even the ribs. So if I asked you what you wanted to order, at that very moment, you might want any of those choices, but eventually you’ll make your choice.
As far as we know, Paul George is still looking over the menu.
Right now we only hear rumors of which one of these scenarios PG wants. He might have made his choice even before this season, but we don’t know that as fact. We don’t know what’s going to happen next and he might not know which option he wants to pursue either.
No matter what, we don’t know what’s going to happen next.
In a way, this is a simple choice for Paul George: Who do you want to play for?
But while Paul George weighing the pros and cons of these multiple options right now, the Pacers are going to need to make their own choices soon.
Do they ride this one out, and hope Paul George stays?
They can offer him a lot of money if he makes an All-NBA team this year or next. $73 million dollars over five years might even matter more than anything else for Paul George.
Or do they assume George’s departure is imminent and start making moves to build for the future?
For the Indiana Pacers, they must decide whether they want Paul George in charge of their future — no matter what choice he makes — or to take the control of the situation and trade him before he leaves for nothing.
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The clock is ticking on all these possibilities, we just have to wait for one of them to become reality.