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

[NoZoLakers]

You think the Lakers would really give youth away when they could try to get him in FA later?

Why would any other team, though?

If the Pacers tell LA they'll trade PG for Love if they dont put #2 on the table, does LA blink? Do they think PG will actually leave a finals/championship run with Lebron/Kyrie?

Lal calls Indy bluff....this love for pg trade is realgm creation...but I'm sure teams will still offer "stuff", same way atl offered stuff for george

[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

"Heart wants want the heart wants", i know utah is your team but you not even sure you can keep hayward yourself, Utah isnt exactly prime fa target location n how is all those other non playoff team in there? La isn't hindered enough to no have cap for pg even with moz/deng n have enough young asset to compete with pg

I think with a PG trade he definitely stays, not discount LA but it seems they are built for the future whereas the Jazz are built for the here and now, we would give the Warriors major issues with another star and scorer like PG.

[Triple B]

Pacers fans should be happy he has come out and made things clear. Don't be mad at him. Be mad at the ALL NBA VOTERS. If he makes the all nba teams like he probably should, he would be a lock to resign as he wouldn't be able to turn down the money. Now all he gives up is the extra year, but will make that through endorsements being the face of the Lakers.

[blind prophet]

Nope, it's LA. Maybe Randle and a pick.

You think the Lakers would really give youth away when they could try to get him in FA later?

Why would any other team, though?

That's why the only team I can think of is Boston. But certainly not this years #3.

Would be the Clippers & Memphis 2019 picks.

[pacers33granger]

He had made it be known through his agent. It was no secret although if I was a fan of the team I would of tried to ignore it too.

It was rumored. It's been rumored for like 7 years that Russ was signing with LA too. This is the first real confirmation we've received.

The verticle reported he was hell bent on joining lakers in Free Agency back in Febuary

Sam Amick of USA Today used those words back then. I have personally never seen that guy break any news. He writes speculation pieces all the time, which are fine, but his stuff is hardly ever news imo. Not long after that report he walked the hellbent stuff back a bit and speculated that Indy could still keep PG after missing out on the supermax.

Lots of those reports were not guys in the know. It was especially bad given how many seemed to not understand the basics of the CBA when talking about him going in 2018. Realistically this is the first long rumored star move to LA that may actually hit. Almost every star or close to star level player has been rumored to LA when their FA is coming up. The media finally may have gotten one to stick after throwing junk at the wall for years. Last year it was Derozan for forever and turned into the Lakers didn't want him once he quickly resigned in Toronto.

If true it sucks. I don't know what the point of putting this out there after a month or so of damage control and rumor denying from everyone involved once Bird stepped down is. Overall this has not been handled well by PG or the front office and we very well may just have a pointless season where we give Teague a ton of money to stay, everyone knows we're doing nothing, and PG is gone.

[blind prophet]

Pacers fans should be happy he has come out and made things clear. Don't be mad at him. Be mad at the ALL NBA VOTERS. If he makes the all nba teams like he probably should, he would be a lock to resign as he wouldn't be able to turn down the money. Now all he gives up is the extra year, but will make that through endorsements being the face of the Lakers.

I think its the opposite, would of been better to do it privately until after the draft at least.

[Lazlo4D]

Ok, so Mr Paul George.

The Pacers have treated you like a prince and now not only want to leave, you intentially try to sabotage the team's future.

- The Pacers believed and drafted you
- They have given you the MAX salary they can at every contract point.
- Pacer fans have always rooted and adored you as a Pacer.
- You have gotten national TV commercials and on the cover of video games.
- WHEN YOU BROKE YOUR LEG during Olympic Trials and the Pacers supported you.
- They paid you MAX salary for sitting out the following season for an Olympic injury AND the team/fans supported you.

[mademan]

Why would any other team, though?

If the Pacers tell LA they'll trade PG for Love if they dont put #2 on the table, does LA blink? Do they think PG will actually leave a finals/championship run with Lebron/Kyrie?

Lal calls Indy bluff....this love for pg trade is realgm creation...but I'm sure teams will still offer "stuff", same way atl offered stuff for george

I'm not sure why its a realgm scenario only. Cleveland clearly needs to make a move to matchup with GSW and Love, at his worst, is still an all-star caliber big and carries value in the league. Even if Indy doesnt want him, he's still probably the best value they can get for PG (unless Boston gambles or LA panics) and they have no reason not to take a deep hard look into that trade.

Indy will probably trade PG now that he told them he's walking in 12 months, and if Love is the best offer on the table, why wouldnt they take it? If LA thinks PG>Lonzo Ball, why wouldnt they stop him from going to Cleveland? Seems to me that as long as Cleveland makes a Love offer for PG, Indy still has some leverage. LA will still have to beat a Love deal

[GFreak34]

OMG!!! What a surprise this is!!

[Wizop]

We've always known he'll opt out. Worst case Pacers have monstrous cap room next summer as long as we don't trade for any long contracts.

So who leaked? Timing is suspicious. Could this be the Pacers saying the trading window is open?

Sent from my 831C using RealGM mobile app

[NatiboyB]

he tanked his trade value by saying he prefers the lakers so teams aren't going to offer as much for him since he likely won't stay.

[Andre Roberstan]

Ok, so Mr Paul George.

The Pacers have treated you like a prince and now not only want to leave, you intentially try to sabotage the team's future.

- The Pacers believed and drafted you
- They have given you the MAX salary they can at every contract point.
- Pacer fans have always rooted and adored you as a Pacer.
- You have gotten national TV commercials and on the cover of video games.
- WHEN YOU BROKE YOUR LEG during Olympic Trials and the Pacers supported you.
- They paid you MAX salary for sitting out the following season for an Olympic injury AND the team/fans supported you.

If he was intentionally trying to sabotage the team's future, he'd decide right after getting knocked out of the playoffs, take several FA meetings, wait until every good free agent at his position was off the market and then write a goodbye announcement in the Player's Tribune, catching everyone off guard.

Trust me, this is better.

That being said, it's not a good look with the speech he gave the other day. He's planning to play out his contract and didn't ask for a trade, but what does he expect them to do?

[Triple B]

Pacers fans should be happy he has come out and made things clear. Don't be mad at him. Be mad at the ALL NBA VOTERS. If he makes the all nba teams like he probably should, he would be a lock to resign as he wouldn't be able to turn down the money. Now all he gives up is the extra year, but will make that through endorsements being the face of the Lakers.

I think its the opposite, would of been better to do it privately until after the draft at least.

Doing it in private would have helped the Pacers if it wasnt known league wide that he wanted to go to the Lakers. And most people have known this information for a while. One of the worst kept secrets in basketball. At least now the chips are on the table.

[blind prophet]

We've always known he'll opt out. Worst case Pacers have monstrous cap room next summer as long as we don't trade for any long contracts.

So who leaked? Timing is suspicious. Could this be the Pacers saying the trading window is open?

Sent from my 831C using RealGM mobile app

Just looked up his agent.

Aaron Mintz

If you are curious maybe you can find some side noise in the last week or two.

[Soulyss]

Ok, so Mr Paul George.

The Pacers have treated you like a prince and now not only want to leave, you intentially try to sabotage the team's future.

- The Pacers believed and drafted you
- They have given you the MAX salary they can at every contract point.
- Pacer fans have always rooted and adored you as a Pacer.
- You have gotten national TV commercials and on the cover of video games.
- WHEN YOU BROKE YOUR LEG during Olympic Trials and the Pacers supported you.
- They paid you MAX salary for sitting out the following season for an Olympic injury AND the team/fans supported you.

These guys for the most part (there are exceptions) dont give a crap about the fans. Portland went through this a couple years ago. It sucks.

[NatiboyB]

just thinking it would be very strange if the Lakers went ahead and just moved Randle/Clarkson/#28 for PG now and they end up being able to make the playoffs this season.

[NoZoLakers]

Ok, so Mr Paul George.

The Pacers have treated you like a prince and now not only want to leave, you intentially try to sabotage the team's future.

- The Pacers believed and drafted you
- They have given you the MAX salary they can at every contract point.
- Pacer fans have always rooted and adored you as a Pacer.
- You have gotten national TV commercials and on the cover of video games.
- WHEN YOU BROKE YOUR LEG during Olympic Trials and the Pacers supported you.
- They paid you MAX salary for sitting out the following season for an Olympic injury AND the team/fans supported you.

These guys for the most part (there are exceptions) dont give a crap about the fans. Portland went through this a couple years ago. It sucks.

We all know when players say they love the fans/city is all fluff pc garbage, Durant/James have shown this more than any other with their actions

[Norm2953]

Let's see if he's willing to say where he would be willing to re-sign. Hopefully the Pacers get
some value for him instead of peanuts from the Lakers.

[Asif16]

Valancinuas + Powell + Poetl + 23rd pick

Pacers could probably do better, but I thought i'd give it a try anyway

[LightTheBeam]

Maybe PG13 is smarter than we all think. With Lebron saying he might leave as well, Cleveland should push all in with Love for PG13. If they both leave you are in a bit worse position than now but the upside is amazing.

"Prefers Lakers" is a smoke screen to get Indiana to accept Love since im sure Cleveland has already inquired.

Pacers would probably take Love locked in to go with Turner and stay competitive at this point.