Written By: Joshua Chapman / NBA Insider
In my last article, I talked about how you never know when your championship window will open or close, and when it’s open you need to do everything in your power to extend it and go for that championship. As a sports franchise, you need to also be aware and realistic of your team and have a little foresight.
By all means, the Pacers should’ve traded Paul George at last year’s deadline when they had all the leverage in the world. George had a year and a half left on his deal, and while the likes of Adrian Wojnarowski indicated that PG13 had his sights set on LA, a team like the Celtics, 76ers or Nuggets could’ve easily sold themselves on convincing him to re-sign. That belief would’ve given Indiana the assets they would require back for a player of his stature and ushered in the Myles Turner era effectively.
Now? Indiana has to sell PG off, this week, before the conclusion of the NBA Draft, in order to receive anything at all or George walks for nothing at all. While this would help their lottery odds at landing Michael Porter Jr. or Luka Doncic, they’d ideally like to get in on the top half of this draft and/or add either young promising player or a star.
Predictably, the franchise is a bit hamstrung. There are only a few teams with the star power or assets that are willing to trade for George anyway, despite his yearning for the purple and gold of Los Angeles. Here’s a few spots that make sense:
Cleveland Cavaliers
As soon as the NBA Finals finished, fans and analysts alike began to speculate on how to improve the Cavaliers roster for another chapter of the Warriors/Cavs saga. Naturally, with George being a free agent and Kevin Love ALWAYS being a scapegoat, a Love-for-George trade idea was cooked up.
Paul George is undoubtedly a better player than Kevin Love, though Indiana could do worse in terms of star power than Love. However, a straight up swap doesn’t make sense in a few ways. While it may not be the biggest deal, I highly doubt that Indiana wants to hand over not only their best player in the midst of his prime to a rival team within their division, but also possibly the best player that LeBron James might have ever played next to in terms of skillset and age at the time. Getting only Kevin Love in return while LeBron, George and Kyrie Irving run amuck for the next half decade is less than ideal.
However, it becomes a real possibility if a third team gets involved, say the Phoenix Suns or the Denver Nuggets. Love would be a much better fit in either organization – a pick and roll/pop tandem with Devin Booker would be lethal and the inside out tag team of Love and Nikola Jokic would be hard to guard. Indiana would get less star power in return, sure, but they’d get young players with upside and reasonable picks. It could be a win-win-win.
Boston Celtics
If Boston wanted to really go for the jugular, it’s theirs for the taking. The Celtics have a whopping eight first round picks over the next three years, not including the number three selection in this year’s draft. While Indiana won’t sniff that pick or the coveted Brooklyn pick in next year’s draft, they could seek the “two firsts and a starter” package that they were looking for. The Celtics own pick in 2018 as well as the Grizzlies pick that the Celtics are owed, plus Terry Rozier is a fair deal given the circumstances.
Adding George to the Celtics makes the East a fair fight. But adding George as well as having the space to sign either Gordon Hayward or Blake Griffin, as well as the additional assets to trade for Jimmy Butler, makes the Celtics a prohibitive favorite to come out the East, as well as challenge the supremacy of the Golden State Warriors. A lineup of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Gordon Hayward, Paul George and Al Horford is enough to make Celtics fans salivate.
Danny Ainge might be more interested in Jimmy Butler because of longer term stability or he might just want to keep his assets himself. But don’t ever count out Boston in the PG race.
Other Long Shots
The Nuggets could just get themselves into the PG sweepstakes, though that might prove to be a bit of a foolhardy endeavor. They do have a ton of depth in both young players with upside and veterans on either reasonable contracts or expiring deals. A package of Emmanuel Mudiay, Wilson Chandler, Malik Beasley and the #13 overall pick is a solid package for Indiana, who could move up in the draft after owning both the #13 and #18 picks. Paul George and Nikola Jokic would be a solid duo, but George would probably leave the following season regardless.
The Clippers are interested in a sign and trade centered around Blake Griffin, but that would mean that the Pacers would have to keep George beyond the NBA Draft, an idea that I doubt seems pleasing to the franchise. In addition, the Clippers have very few future first round picks and while Blake Griffin would keep them relevant in the Eastern Conference (provided he stays healthy), pairing a young Myles Turner with another high volume big man wouldn’t exactly be ideal.
The Lakers could be a player, but it seems as though they’d rather call the Pacers bluff as well as have supreme confidence that George will make his way to their franchise anyways. It doesn’t make sense to give up too much of their young core if they can count on bringing him into the fold regardless.
The Pacers don’t have as many option to play with as they would’ve had a few months ago, but they are there. It’s up to them to make sure that Thursday night doesn’t pass with Paul George still in an Indiana uniform.
"A journalist who doesn't value deeply an audience's loyalty should be in another line of work." --- Peter Jennings