Lakers Trade Rumors: Pacers Reportedly Have Not Yet ‘Solicited’ Offers For Paul George

Trevor Lane
3 Min Read
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers are known to have an interest in acquiring Indiana Pacers star forward Paul George, but it won’t be easy. As appealing as it is to bring George back home to Los Angeles, he is under contract for at least one more year, and apparently, the Pacers aren’t ready to make a deal just yet.

With George likely to decline the final year of his contract next summer and enter free agency, the thought had been the Indiana might try to cut their losses and trade him rather than risk him walking away and receiving nothing in return.

However, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, Indiana is currently treating George trade offers as a non-starter:

Of course, for the Lakers and just about every other NBA team, the question is whether or not they would be willing to part with any major assets now knowing that George could walk away next summer.

For some teams, getting George in-house would be worth it, especially if they assurances that he would be likely to sign with them. For others, the risk may simply be too much. The Lakers found themselves in a similar situation when they traded for Dwight Howard in 2012, parting with assets only to see Howard flee to Houston the following summer.

With George rumored to be very interested in signing with the Lakers in free agency, they may be best served by hanging onto their assets and waiting until the summer of 2018. Should they go that route, the best scenario would be for George to stay in Indiana and for the team to struggle, so the news that the Pacers aren’t accepting trade offers at this time could be very good news for the Lakers.

Trevor Lane is a longtime NBA and Los Angeles Lakers fan who had the good fortune to grow up during the glory days of the Showtime Lakers, when Magic Johnson, Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and the rest ruled the Great Western Forum. He has written about basketball, soccer, fantasy sports, MMA, and even pro wrestling over the course of his career, but the spectacle that is the Lakers is his true passion. He made the leap into podcasting for Lakers Nation and provides voice-over analysis for our YouTube channel. With a who's who of stars gracing the Lakers lineup over the years, including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Pau Gasol, and many others, the Lakers always provide plenty to talk about. When he isn't writing or recording, Trevor can be found spending time with his wife and daughter or on the sidelines for one of the youth teams he coaches. Outside of the Lakers, Trevor is a supporter of the LA Galaxy, US Soccer, Dallas Cowboys, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Contact: trevor@mediumlargela.com
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