The 2017 NBA Draft is less than 48 hours away with all sorts of movement happening in the league. The Los Angeles Lakers, as per usual, are at the center of it all the speculation and trade rumors swirling around the NBA.
Superstar Paul George is rumored to be on the move with the Lakers in the running to land him in a blockbuster trade which could come before the draft on Thursday.
According to Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News, the trade talks between the Lakers and Indiana Pacers are currently at a standstill with Los Angeles reportedly having submitted an offer for George:
I'm told Lakers + Pacers currently at standstill on Paul George trade involving either Randle or Clarkson & 27th and 28th pick.
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) June 21, 2017
Although the talks are currently at an impasse, George being traded somewhere, and not necessarily to the Lakers, is likely to happen before Thursday’s draft, via Medina:
Nonetheless, Pacers will continue to talk to teams. I'm told it's "highly likely" Paul George gets traded before the draft.
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) June 21, 2017
The Lakers will have a lot invested in the outcome of the next few days with the team possessing the No. 2 pick in the draft and wanting to get George in uniform sooner rather than later. George has made it clear that the Lakers are the favorites to sign him when he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2018 and the team’s front office wants him in house before another team like the Cleveland Cavaliers can swoop in and land him in a trade.
It seems as though it’s a two-team race to acquire George at the moment with the Cavaliers wanting to shake things up with the addition of another star to play alongside LeBron James for at least one more season. LeBron, like George, can become an unrestricted free agent next summer and all indications point to the superstar leaving Cleveland again with Los Angeles being a potential destination.
Of course, with the threat of another devastating LeBron departure, the team will be trying to retool the roster in order to contend with the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Adding George to play alongside James and Kyrie Irving while potentially sacrificing Kevin Love in a trade may be the direction the team wants to go while the Lakers want to bring in a superstar immediately and build around him moving forward.