New information suggests the Pacers could have landed Anthony Davis
Earlier this week, former Indiana Pacers forward Paul George spoke to Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles on the Knuckleheads podcast about his entire career.
Of course, his departure from Indiana came up along the way. Paul George gave his perspective on the trade once again and what led to his going away.
As we know, Paul George requested a trade, despite claiming just a few months before he was committed to the team. At one point, he envisioned a Kobe Bryant-inspired career all with one team.
George also name-dropped an anonymous power forward that he claims was the “best” in the league at the time that wanted to join him in Indiana. New information has come out about that power forward.
According to a new Pacers rumor, Anthony Davis could have been in Indy
When the initial news came out about a top power forward wanting to play in Indy with Paul George, I looked at two names primarily as the possible culprits here. Given that Anthony Davis hadn’t yet publicly requested a trade away from the New Orleans Pelicans — that didn’t happen until over a year later — I didn’t consider him as a serious or realistic option here.
My suggestions were Paul Millsap and Blake Griffin, two power forwards who had stellar seasons the year before. Both Griffin and Millsap signed new contracts that summer.
According to J Michael, Pacers reporter for IndyStar, it was, in fact Anthony Davis.
I keep getting Blake Griffin comments over this. It was NOT him. PG is referring to Anthony Davis who had a couple yrs left on his deal. No commitment to #Pacers beyond that and a team gutting itself to get AD and then having to compete w/Lakers in free agency made it a no-go https://t.co/cJ1BppN6L2
— J. Michael (@ThisIsJMichael) June 23, 2020
This makes the new information from George sting even more, considering AD has launched into a new stratosphere over the last few years. Firmly, Davis is the best active power forward in the game on both ends of the floor.
Averaging 26.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists with the Los Angeles Lakers this season, Davis has a chance to win a title alongside LeBron James this season.
It probably would have been a worthwhile deal, but there’s no denying that it would have taken a hefty ticket to get the deal done. The Lakers had to give up Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and a slew of first-round draft picks to make the deal work.
We also don’t know how far along PG and AD were in these chats. Were they simply casual, “oh yeah, I’d love to play with you,” chats or, “let’s get this done,” chats? Paul George is known for having both.
If this information is in fact true, it’s pretty disappointing the Pacers didn’t even want to do their due diligence on making such a deal for one of the best players in the game to pair with Paul George. It goes on to reinforce the claims George had about the front office not wanting to win.
In the Knuckleheads podcast, here’s what George had to say:
"“What am I doing here? You know what I mean? They don’t want to win. I’ve got the best power forward that wants to come play here. Not everybody chooses Indy to come play here.”"
Hindsight is 20/20, right?