Woj: Paul George informs Pacers he plans to leave them in 2018 free agency, prefers Lakers.

[Kupchak9]

I would give up 2 firsts for George as NO. Not to spite the Lakers, just to have a chance at a real contender. Sure I'd be a petty GM if I were one. But I'm trying to be realistic with Lakers fans here. A Thad Young rental went for more than some are proposing

I'll speak on behalf of Lakers fans here that we are not attempting to set the bar here for what a PG rental is worth. We're comfortable with waiting it out another year and making a pitch in FA. Clarkson and #28 is being thrown around here alot, but that's just what we are content with offering. Every poster is free to offer up a better package to represent their team. That doesn't take away from the fact that you're paying for a rental that strongly prefers the Lakers. I'd like to see the list of teams willing to give up multiple draft picks to take the chance on PG.

Secondly, not every team has the luxury of having AD and Cousins to recruit George. But looking past that, the earliest pick you would be able to offer is 2019. If I'm trading PG, why am I waiting 2 years to collect on a mediocre asset. Also, how do you make salaries match? You have a cap hold on Holiday. Any trade for PG would have to include one of Hill or Asik. That's surely no consolation for Indiana....

nah we can do 2018 after the draft and 2020 and Moore, Ajinca, QPon

How do you trade draft picks in consecutive years. 2017 is already conveyed to SAC.

[Darren]

I still don't see LAL as a winning option, especially with they're bad contracts. Teams that should be calling:

Utah
Dallas
Boston
Miami
Minny

Dallas may only offer you Wes Matthews, Seth Curry, draft right to 9th pick and 2018 first for Paul George and 18th pick. Not sure you bite on that.

[pelifan]

I'll speak on behalf of Lakers fans here that we are not attempting to set the bar here for what a PG rental is worth. We're comfortable with waiting it out another year and making a pitch in FA. Clarkson and #28 is being thrown around here alot, but that's just what we are content with offering. Every poster is free to offer up a better package to represent their team. That doesn't take away from the fact that you're paying for a rental that strongly prefers the Lakers. I'd like to see the list of teams willing to give up multiple draft picks to take the chance on PG.

Secondly, not every team has the luxury of having AD and Cousins to recruit George. But looking past that, the earliest pick you would be able to offer is 2019. If I'm trading PG, why am I waiting 2 years to collect on a mediocre asset. Also, how do you make salaries match? You have a cap hold on Holiday. Any trade for PG would have to include one of Hill or Asik. That's surely no consolation for Indiana....

nah we can do 2018 after the draft and 2020 and Moore, Ajinca, QPon

How do you trade draft picks in consecutive years. 2017 is already conveyed to SAC.

doesnt work after the draft is completed. We traded away a 2014 first and a 2015 first. It can be done if the draft is in the past, the Stepien rule only applies to future consecutive picks

[SBM]

I think Detroit is a good spot for both teams. Detroit could shed salary. Indy could get 12th pick.

[HotelVitale]

I think y'all are overlooking the word 'prefers' in the tweet. My guess is that the Lakers are his first choice but he'd also agree to play for some other teams--and it'll basically be a bidding war among all them. Which isn't as good as a full-on open market bidding war, but it's a lot better than 'we'll take whatever the Lakers give us out of charity.'

You're literally getting stuck on semantics. IF this was the first time he was linked to the Lakers, maybe you'd have an argument. But he's been linked to the Lakers for a while now. And I don't think it's a Lakers-only situation, I think it's a situation in where he could be convinced to stay elsewhere but they'd have to be convincing to leave the option of the Lakers off the table. Nobody is going to give up anything of significant on hope that they can convince him to stay.

Sorry didn't realize that you don't have to bother with semantics because you know what PG means by direct intuition and don't have to worry about what he actually says. I don't care one way or the other--not a Pacers or Lakers fan--but the words in that tweet suggest he'd be open to other options. You don't use the word 'prefer' if you're only willing to do one option.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

If I was the Lakers, I would be a little hesitant to make a trade for George without an extension. What if he gets there, the team has a challenging year, maybe he catches criticism from the press or the fan-base and he is suddenly hesitant to ink a long-term deal?

Lakers been picking 2nd three years straight. Paul George isn't catching any criticism in LAL.

[GIMME_DATT]

I'll give you the Spurs, the other, no

No way, not even the Spurs. Who's the Point? Patty Mills? Who are their bigs? LMA and hopefully a replacement for Pau if opts out but probably just Pau? No chance a lineup of: Mills/PG/Kawhi/LMA/Pau challenges Curry/Klay/Andre/KD/Dray. Not even close. The wing really isn't where the Spurs need help, they've got Danny, J. Simmons looks solid, they're fine there. They're gonna need a point and a 2nd big to play with LMA, if CP3 goes there I give them much better odds of making noise than if PG does.

None of those other teams move the needle just with the PG addition. That's what's so crazy about the Warriors, except for the Cavs no-one is 1 step away from competing with them. Everyone is at least 2. If Boston trades for PG and then signs Hayward than on paper they're in the convo except that brand new group isn't gonna gel right away and then you have to convince PG to stay the next year. What does LAC even trade for him? Have to be DAj or a S&T with Blake, Cp3/PG/DAJ or Cp3/PG/Blake, nice team but not beating the Ws. TOR? Are we joking around now?

I think you may be severely underestimating the impact of adding a top 10 player to a 50 win roster. 20 PPG in his sleep and elite defensive capability. This is guy a seamless fit and a starter on 30 teams IMO.

It's not like I'm adding him to cellar dwellers.

George isn't a top 10 player

LeBron
Durant
Curry
Kawai
Westbrook
Harden
Cp3
Anthony Davis
Greek freak
John wall
Jimmy butler

In no orders

And others

[Spens1]

Read on Twitter

i'm sorry we could put up a better package than Cleveland unless Love is going to Indiana. Most of the players outside of the big 3 are overpaid and overrated to be honest. Not sure why Indiana would have interest in guys like Thompson and Shumpert.

[AingesBurner]

I still don't see LAL as a winning option, especially with they're bad contracts. Teams that should be calling:

Utah
Dallas
Boston
Miami
Minny

Dallas may only offer you Wes Matthews, Seth Curry, draft right to 9th pick and 2018 first for Paul George and 18th pick. Not sure you bite on that.

I'm not a Dallas fan but I think Indi passes on that IMO.

[Karmaloop]

Sorry didn't realize that you don't have to bother with semantics because you know what PG means by direct intuition and don't have to worry about what he actually says. I don't care one way or the other--not a Pacers or Lakers fan--but the words in that tweet suggest he'd be open to other options. You don't use the word 'prefer' if you're only willing to do one option.

I'm beginning to think you haven't followed the very situation. The Paul George-to-the-Lakers rumors have been in full force the last calendar year or so. And then if you read Woj's piece it said that he believes that George can be wooed into staying IF a team is competitive enough. So not only does a team need to feel comfortable in their situation in terms of competitiveness, but they also need to feel that George won't walk AND that they're giving up a package that would suit Indiana's desire. That's a tall order to fill.

[winter_mute_13]

Somebody should probably do a thread collating the rental offers. Nope not volunteering

[damecurry]

I'll give you the Spurs, the other, no

No way, not even the Spurs. Who's the Point? Patty Mills? Who are their bigs? LMA and hopefully a replacement for Pau if opts out but probably just Pau? No chance a lineup of: Mills/PG/Kawhi/LMA/Pau challenges Curry/Klay/Andre/KD/Dray. Not even close. The wing really isn't where the Spurs need help, they've got Danny, J. Simmons looks solid, they're fine there. They're gonna need a point and a 2nd big to play with LMA, if CP3 goes there I give them much better odds of making noise than if PG does.

None of those other teams move the needle just with the PG addition. That's what's so crazy about the Warriors, except for the Cavs no-one is 1 step away from competing with them. Everyone is at least 2. If Boston trades for PG and then signs Hayward than on paper they're in the convo except that brand new group isn't gonna gel right away and then you have to convince PG to stay the next year. What does LAC even trade for him? Have to be DAj or a S&T with Blake, Cp3/PG/DAJ or Cp3/PG/Blake, nice team but not beating the Ws. TOR? Are we joking around now?

I think you may be severely underestimating the impact of adding a top 10 player to a 50 win roster. 20 PPG in his sleep and elite defensive capability. This is guy a seamless fit and a starter on 30 teams IMO.

It's not like I'm adding him to cellar dwellers.

So? Im not. Theyd be really good, even historically great, as good as any Duncan Spurs team maybe. Doesnt matter. Theyd still be at a massive talent disadvantage to this Warriors team. Kawhi/PG is close to equal as a star duo to Steph/KD. But Drays way better than LMA and Klay is wayyyy better than whoever the spurs 4th guy is. So its still not close.

[HartfordWhalers]

Had a conversation yesterday with a Pacer fan and a 76er mod who when I said he openly wanted to go to the lakers that he's never said that and that it was just his agent trying to pressure the Pacers front o. Would love to see what they have to say now

Wow, this is the second time you have done this passive aggressive shtick in under 2 dozen posts.

Lets see if you back off as quick as last time, when you declared that the unprotected Lakers pick having risk on both sides was nonsense.

Here is the closest thing I can find resembling what you are talking about:

viewtopic.php?p=56264288#p56264288

He's openly said he wants to go to the lakers. You don't think it would be worth it to get some value before when bolted? The Celtics would take the risk and the idea is the situation here would be too good to leave. So we'd have a good shot at convincing him

False, he has never once said that.

And if he did, he would have been fined substantially.

But it does sound like his agent/camp were putting that out there. Now, there are several strategic reasons to do just that.
Monetary:
1) Being traded takes away the potential for the super super max.
Desired team:
2) You don't want the Lakers to give up a lot of assets for you
3) You don't want another team to give up a lot of assets for you
4) You don't want to be traded at all (although saying you would rather stay in Indy would work better here one would think)
5) You want to be traded to the Lakers ahead of free agency

If I'm a good agent, I think making sure my client can get the new max and if not, if he is traded that the team that gets him pays as little as possible are pretty great goals.

So, even if Paul George will actually join the Spurs in a year, having the Lakers or bust narrative out there is pretty helpful on those two big fronts.

Until we hear anything resembling 5 above, I wouldn't count on the Lakers having a massive free agent draw capable of outweighing a very good situation. Think Boston contending in the finals, not necessarily Philly floundering to the 8th seed.

So, I said that he didn't directly say it and that he would have been fined if he did. -- Yep, thats true.
And that there are great strategic reasons to put it out there. -- Yep, also still true.
And even included in the strategic reasons that he might want to get traded to the Lakers. -- Sure doesn't seem a problem now.
But also did say that a very good situation like Boston could beat the draw of the Lakers based upon what we know -- Which matched what you said.

So, if you want to know what I say now, I will say that you look incredibly foolish with your attempt to call me out, yet again.

Also, if you want to keep referring to me as a mod, go with that Trade Board mod.

But yeah, If I'm the Celtics this gives me some pause, but not enough that I'm not willing to gamble on him if the price is right. It is all about the price (and the fact that the Lakers are really far from being competitive).

[dakomish23]

No way, not even the Spurs. Who's the Point? Patty Mills? Who are their bigs? LMA and hopefully a replacement for Pau if opts out but probably just Pau? No chance a lineup of: Mills/PG/Kawhi/LMA/Pau challenges Curry/Klay/Andre/KD/Dray. Not even close. The wing really isn't where the Spurs need help, they've got Danny, J. Simmons looks solid, they're fine there. They're gonna need a point and a 2nd big to play with LMA, if CP3 goes there I give them much better odds of making noise than if PG does.

None of those other teams move the needle just with the PG addition. That's what's so crazy about the Warriors, except for the Cavs no-one is 1 step away from competing with them. Everyone is at least 2. If Boston trades for PG and then signs Hayward than on paper they're in the convo except that brand new group isn't gonna gel right away and then you have to convince PG to stay the next year. What does LAC even trade for him? Have to be DAj or a S&T with Blake, Cp3/PG/DAJ or Cp3/PG/Blake, nice team but not beating the Ws. TOR? Are we joking around now?

I think you may be severely underestimating the impact of adding a top 10 player to a 50 win roster. 20 PPG in his sleep and elite defensive capability. This is guy a seamless fit and a starter on 30 teams IMO.

It's not like I'm adding him to cellar dwellers.

George isn't a top 10 player

LeBron
Durant
Curry
Kawai
Westbrook
Harden
Cp3
Anthony Davis
Greek freak
John wall
Jimmy butler

In no orders

And others

That's a matter of opinion. If he's not top 10 then he's right there. Would you say he isn't top 15?

[dakomish23]

No way, not even the Spurs. Who's the Point? Patty Mills? Who are their bigs? LMA and hopefully a replacement for Pau if opts out but probably just Pau? No chance a lineup of: Mills/PG/Kawhi/LMA/Pau challenges Curry/Klay/Andre/KD/Dray. Not even close. The wing really isn't where the Spurs need help, they've got Danny, J. Simmons looks solid, they're fine there. They're gonna need a point and a 2nd big to play with LMA, if CP3 goes there I give them much better odds of making noise than if PG does.

None of those other teams move the needle just with the PG addition. That's what's so crazy about the Warriors, except for the Cavs no-one is 1 step away from competing with them. Everyone is at least 2. If Boston trades for PG and then signs Hayward than on paper they're in the convo except that brand new group isn't gonna gel right away and then you have to convince PG to stay the next year. What does LAC even trade for him? Have to be DAj or a S&T with Blake, Cp3/PG/DAJ or Cp3/PG/Blake, nice team but not beating the Ws. TOR? Are we joking around now?

I think you may be severely underestimating the impact of adding a top 10 player to a 50 win roster. 20 PPG in his sleep and elite defensive capability. This is guy a seamless fit and a starter on 30 teams IMO.

It's not like I'm adding him to cellar dwellers.

So? Im not. Theyd be really good, even historically great, as good as any Duncan Spurs team maybe. Doesnt matter. Theyd still be at a massive talent disadvantage to this Warriors team. Kawhi/PG is close to equal as a star duo to Steph/KD. But Drays way better than LMA and Klay is wayyyy better than whoever the spurs 4th guy is. So its still not close.

We can agree to disagree then.

[youngthegiant]

Denver offers #13, Mudiay, Chandler

[Dmatt]

I understand LA is a cool city and one of the few top tier franchises ever to play for, but one of the commentators for ESPN believe said it best. IF paul george does decide to sign with LA and their last few recent and future draft picks dont reach the hype they are meant to, he wont be able to carry the lakers past the 4th best team in the west and will end his career as a mid level player rather than an alltime superstar.

[Dmatt]

I think you may be severely underestimating the impact of adding a top 10 player to a 50 win roster. 20 PPG in his sleep and elite defensive capability. This is guy a seamless fit and a starter on 30 teams IMO.

It's not like I'm adding him to cellar dwellers.

George isn't a top 10 player

LeBron
Durant
Curry
Kawai
Westbrook
Harden
Cp3
Anthony Davis
Greek freak
John wall
Jimmy butler

In no orders

And others

That's a matter of opinion. If he's not top 10 then he's right there. Would you say he isn't top 15?

hes pretty neck to neck with jimmy butler and at this point i would 100% take him over cp3. cp3 is a good pg but he has alot of miles and doesnt have the age or scoring caliber to carry a team like PG anymore

[LofJ]

Me thinks we'll have a Cousins like trade this year, though the amount of teams that'll trade for him is probably small. I dont see Boston trading top tier assets for him only to be in the non-enviable position of being forced to re-sign both he and IT next summer; LA shouldnt give any assets when they can just wait and other teams with assets (Philly/Denver) would be crazy to trade for him without a guarantee

I'm calling a Love-George-maybe 3rd team trade where PG goes to the Cavs and Lebron convinces him to stay

Utah should be the 3rd team. It would block the Celtics acquisition of Hayward while simultaneously strengthening one of the only teams with a fighting chance against the Warriors.

[Green_teamer]

Had a conversation yesterday with a Pacer fan and a 76er mod who when I said he openly wanted to go to the lakers that he's never said that and that it was just his agent trying to pressure the Pacers front o. Would love to see what they have to say now

Wow, this is the second time you have done this passive aggressive shtick in under 2 dozen posts.

Lets see if you back off as quick as last time, when you declared that the unprotected Lakers pick having risk on both sides was nonsense.

Here is the closest thing I can find resembling what you are talking about:

viewtopic.php?p=56264288#p56264288

False, he has never once said that.

And if he did, he would have been fined substantially.

But it does sound like his agent/camp were putting that out there. Now, there are several strategic reasons to do just that.
Monetary:
1) Being traded takes away the potential for the super super max.
Desired team:
2) You don't want the Lakers to give up a lot of assets for you
3) You don't want another team to give up a lot of assets for you
4) You don't want to be traded at all (although saying you would rather stay in Indy would work better here one would think)
5) You want to be traded to the Lakers ahead of free agency

If I'm a good agent, I think making sure my client can get the new max and if not, if he is traded that the team that gets him pays as little as possible are pretty great goals.

So, even if Paul George will actually join the Spurs in a year, having the Lakers or bust narrative out there is pretty helpful on those two big fronts.

Until we hear anything resembling 5 above, I wouldn't count on the Lakers having a massive free agent draw capable of outweighing a very good situation. Think Boston contending in the finals, not necessarily Philly floundering to the 8th seed.

So, I said that he didn't directly say it and that he would have been fined if he did. -- Yep, thats true.
And that there are great strategic reasons to put it out there. -- Yep, also still true.
And even included in the strategic reasons that he might want to get traded to the Lakers. -- Sure doesn't seem a problem now.
But also did say that a very good situation like Boston could beat the draw of the Lakers based upon what we know -- Which matched what you said.

So, if you want to know what I say now, I will say that you look incredibly foolish with your attempt to call me out, yet again.

Also, if you want to keep referring to me as a mod, go with that Trade Board mod.

But yeah, If I'm the Celtics this gives me some pause, but not enough that I'm not willing to gamble on him if the price is right. It is all about the price (and the fact that the Lakers are really far from being competitive).

1) I only said it because I remember you two coming down pretty hard on me for the idea that he wanted to go to the lakers. It was reported in the verticle back in Febuary but at the time I didn't care to look up the article but I did earlier today when news broke..it just seemed fitting this happened a day later

2) don't take me referring to you as a mod personal. Theres no malcontent there that's just the only way I know how to distinguish you