Paul George rumors sending shock waves through NBA

Paul George is leaving the Indiana Pacers prompting plenty of reactions from the NBA universe and plenty or trade ideas and rumors.

He’s gone. Paul George will be leaving the Indiana Pacers soon enough, the only question is where he goes next.

So far, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Clippers are the frontrunners for PG’s services. While those three teams are the most likely to get George, they aren’t the only ones looking to acquire him.

Sean Deveney of the Sporting News, who reported the Clippers interest, also says the Houston Rockets could get involved.

"Another team to keep an eye on: Houston. The Rockets don’t have a pick in this year’s draft, but they have young talent on hand (Clint Capela, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell), and have their first-rounders going forward. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey would be willing to take the chance that being part of a contender in Houston, and playing in Mike D’Antoni’s system, would appeal to George."

If the Cavaliers are still in the market for PG, then they’ll need to do something to make the deal worthwhile for the Pacers, and that might not mean Kevin Love is coming to Indiana.

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Indy Cornrow’s Caitlin Cooper suspects a third team would need to be involved to make grease the wheels. A straight up PG-Love deal makes little sense.

"Acquiring Kevin Love in a 1-for-1 deal isn’t going to turn that particular tide, provide much-needed wing depth, or close the gap between Paul George and Myles Turner’s respective windows. But, using the one-time NBA Champion power fauxward as bait to entice a third team has the potential to restore some of the leverage the Pacers abruptly lost when news unexpectedly broke Sunday that Paul George had already privately informed the franchise that he intends to take his talents to Los Angeles come the summer of 2018.With that in mind, teams desperate for an injection of star power would probably be less trigger shy to pony up for Kevin Love’s “no-flight risk” than Paul George’s likely one-year rental."

Sports Illustrated Ben Golliver thinks PG represents the Cavaliers best chance or reloading for another run at the Golden State Warriors. Butler is another option but likely comes at a higher price.

"George, however, is a different story. His Pacers exited the playoffs in a first-round sweep against the Cavaliers, he refused to commit to Indiana when asked during his season-ending press conference, he was stuck with a new coach and a new point guard this season, and team president Larry Bird abruptly retired back in April. Meanwhile, rumors linking George, a 2018 free agent, to his home state Lakers have raged for months and he’s repeatedly said that he wants to get back to the type of winning he enjoyed earlier in his career, when the Pacers made back-to-back runs to the conference finals. On top of all that, George missed out on All-NBA honors this year, reducing (or at least delaying) the Pacers’ ability to blow away outside competitors when it comes to his next contract talks."

If Paul George is deadset on the Lakers, however, then the team can finally reclaim the idea of Lakers Exceptionalism according to CBS Sports’ Matt Moore.

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"The phrase was coined by Tom Ziller of SB Nation back in 2012, defined as the Lakers’ ability to attract stars as trade or free-agent targets simply because they were the Lakers. Their storied history was enough, regardless of the front office, roster or coaching. In 2016, Ziller wrote that Lakers exceptionalism was dead, and he was right. The Lakers flubbed meetings with LaMarcus Aldridge in 2015 and failed to secure a meeting with Kevin Durant. The Lakers are not mentioned (yet) in discussions about Chris Paul or Gordon Hayward, with only murmurs about Blake Griffin as a possibility.Unless the Lakers could prove once again they were a legit, they were no more special than Milwaukee or Memphis or Charlotte. Enter Paul George."

If the Lakers don’t want to wait, Chad Ford of ESPN suggests a Luol Deng and the second pick for Paul George, but there are some reports they wouldn’t give up that pick.

Yahoo’s Dan Devine makes a good argument for why the Lakers should hurry up and make the move instead of assuming everything will fall into place.

"Acting now allows the Lakers to get George one year early, affording them the opportunity to use his Bird rights to re-sign him next year rather than having to create a maximum salary slot to import him. It allows the Lakers to sell reality rather than promise to prospective free-agent targets — not “Paul George wants to be here,” but “Paul George is here.” It allows the Lakers to shed the stink of several swing-and-a-miss free-agent periods by successfully bringing in a legitimate star around whom to build their next competitive team. It allows the Lakers to enter their rebuild in earnest without fear that another down year will mean coughing up a high-value draft pick, with L.A.’s 2018 first-rounder bound for either Philadelphia or Boston."

Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical says that he is only going to be a rental for any team but the Lakers, but that doesn’t mean a contender isn’t going to try to convince him otherwise.

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Before the news broke on Sunday, or at least before Paul George’s camp informed the Pacers, Kevin Pritchard was looking to pick up Jrue Holiday and Danilo Gallinari, but that is in the distant past now.