The NBA rumor mill continues to churn out some curious combinations that involve superstars moving to the LA Lakers and Indiana Pacers.
The Paul George to LA Lakers rumor is one that just won't quit and it gained some leverage when Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer had linked them again.
According to O'Connor's piece, George could seek a trade" if Indiana goes off the rails. L.A.'s interest in George might be mutual, too: George was a Lakers fan who idolized Kobe Bryant while growing up in Palmdale, California, and even called the Lakers a 'family-favorite team' before extending his Pacers contract in 2013. Purple and Gold fans are notorious for assuming stars are destined for Los Angeles, but this time around they could be onto something."
Breakdown:
The rumor seems viable because O'Connor gave a condition. The Indiana Pacers fired Coach Frank Vogel, who consistently guided them to the playoffs except the season where George was out with the gruesome injury. Obviously, Team President Larry Bird wants results as he paid a high price to make these changes.
The Pacers do not have too many tools at their disposal to improve their team unless they tank. They are not exactly a free agent destination and Bird's trade for Jeff Teague is probably the boldest move he can make aside from breaking the team core. To be honest, Teague may be overvalued because of his All-Star appearance and if he fails, the team could be headed south.
In short, this is as good as it gets for the Pacers and if it is simply not good enough, Bird is not one to back off from rebuilding. Trading George to the Lakers could give them two promising prospects at their positions of need (D'Angelo Russell at point guard and Brandon Ingram replacing Paul George at the small forward spot).
They will get less wins but better draft position and three young stars (Russell, Ingram, Myles Turner) at the same age range who could all develop as future All-Stars. This rumor could actually happen.
This discussion calls to mind another rumor involving Paul George and the Pacers which was mentioned in Inquisitr and Parent Herald. If the Pacers perform better and the Golden State Warriors implode, Kevin Durant can opt out of his contract and become a free agent and sign with the Indiana Pacers.
This has been suggested by Evan Massey, a contributor at Forbes citing the mutual respect Durant and George has of each other. Also, a George-Durant tandem instantly makes Indiana a challenger to LeBron James and the Cavs.
There are huge roadblocks to this scenario, though. Durant is not exactly island-hopping in free agency. His opt-out is primarily to maximize his earning capacity based on the salary cap increases, not necessarily to switch teams again.
Also, the rumor was based on the Golden State Warriors performing badly, which is already a relative term since the expectations are so high. A 60-win season may be "bad" for the Warriors, but the Pacers could hardly aspire to that.
While the Warriors are not exactly shoo-ins to win the title, they have to be very bad for Durant to consider leaving again. That's highly unlikely and so is this rumor.