The NBA announced the three All-NBA teams on Thursday afternoon, and Paul George was not included in any of them. No longer able to receive a mega-extension this summer, his future could follow many different paths.
Paul George faces a very unpredictable future. He is no longer eligible for the Designated Veteran Player Extension this summer, which means that the Pacers have lost a crucial piece of leverage in retaining their superstar. Rumors of George fleeing to Los Angeles circulate the internet on a daily basis, and he’s done little to dispel them.
George has said multiple times that he always imagined playing for the Lakers at some point, but that point isn’t necessarily the 2017-18 season. Until the summer of 2018, George’s future isn’t entirely up to him, and Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard could decide to move him to a completely different team for this season.
Even though he wasn’t named to an All-NBA team, George is still arguably a top 15 player in the NBA. The stipulation that a center must be named to each All-NBA team is arguably what kept him and Jazz forward Gordon Hayward off the lists.
When it comes down to it, there are five primary paths forward for George. The first is the one we can’t stop hearing about.