8:40pm: The Lakers engaged the Kings on a potential trade that would have involved the No. 2 pick going to Sacramento in exchange for Nos. 5 and 10, reports TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter links). According to Aldridge, the Lakers’ goal was to package one of those Kings’ picks with one of the Lakers’ late first-rounders and a player in an effort to get George. However, the Kings turned them down.
Meanwhile, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter links) hears that the Lakers and Pacers are currently at a “standstill” in their talks, though it remains “highly likely” that Indiana will move George this week.
6:11pm: In the wake of their trade agreement with the Nets, the Lakers have offered the Pacers either Jordan Clarkson or Julius Randle along with the No. 27 and No. 28 picks in exchange for George, according to Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). ESPN’s Marc Stein also reported the details of that package (via Twitter).
1:56pm: The Lakers and Pacers have engaged on trade talks for Paul George, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne. No deal is imminent at this point.
Los Angeles is considered George’s likely destination in 2018, raising questions about how aggressive the Lakers would be on the trade market for him. If the Lakers expect George to sign with them as a free agent a year from now, there would be little reason for the club to pursue him now and give up key assets to land him. However, it appears the Lakers are at least kicking the tires on what it would take to acquire George and get him in the fold sooner rather than later.
As for what the Lakers may be willing to offer, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical suggested earlier this week that the club isn’t expected to put the No. 2 overall pick or Brandon Ingram on the table. Wojnarowski said that a combination of Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and the No. 28 pick might be the most the Lakers are open to giving up, though there’s no indication yet that those are the players being discussed by the two teams.
D’Angelo Russell is another player the Lakers could make available in George talks — ESPN’s Chad Ford reported (via Twitter) that the team may be dangling Russell in an effort to pick up another lottery pick. However, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders suggests (via Twitter) that’s not accurate, noting that Russell and George share an agent, who would likely prefer to see his two clients together in L.A. (Twitter link) — Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link) confirms as much. For what it’s worth, Randle is an Aaron Mintz client as well.
If the Lakers and Pacers make a serious effort to work out a deal, don’t expect Luol Deng or Timofey Mozgov to be involved. The Lakers are resisting that sort of salary dump at this point, since it would cost them draft picks or a young player, tweets Wojnarowski. Pincus adds (via Twitter) that removing Deng and/or Mozgov from the Lakers’ cap likely won’t become a priority until 2018, when the team goes after free agents.
While the Lakers are George’s preferred destination, a number of teams are reportedly exploring the possibility of landing the star forward, even as a one-year rental. The Clippers, Cavaliers, and Rockets have been cited as possible trade partners for Indiana, and according to Amico Hoops, the Wizards are also investigating the possibility of a deal.
Why let him play out 82 games risk injury and let him get 1 year older? Grab him now and start the season with him. Not to mention what if he gets in the playoffa, even more wear and tear. These players are like cars, why buy something with more mileage when you can get it with less miles?
I completely agree! Plus why risk letting someone else getting him and then he decides to stay with them!?
I completely agree! Plus why risk letting someone else getting him and then he decides to stay with them!?
I guess one counter from the Lakers perspective could be if they sign him as a FA they wouldn’t have to give him as much as if they trade for him and have to give him a super max contract with his bird rights.
So they don’t have to use the assets for him now that they otherwise could use for someone else. If Ingram is the only untouchable, you can dangle the second pick and Russell for another star and wait for him a year from now. OR like you said, what happens if he suffers another freak accident in that year and never recovers. Brandon Roy ring any bells? That means they gave away a bunch for one year of a player who may never be the same. Big if, but still possible.
Exactly, he is just as likely to suffer an injury in California than Indiana.
PG looked different second half of the year. He had a talk with Westbrook and upped his averages from like 22 to 28 i think, if the Lakers are getting the George I saw second half this past season Ingram should be dealt with immediately.
Cost.
Trade Clarkson, nance jr and a first rounder in like 2020
Can anyone say “Dwight Howard”
completely different situation. George will stay with the Lakers
If Lakers get George now without giving up the 2 pick or Ingram they are a playoff team
Probably but with the Warriors in the West that means nothing. If I were the Lakers I would rather have 1 more year of a lottery pick then just sign him.
Lakers dont own their 2018 pick
I realized this after I submitted this and couldn’t figure out how to edit it.
But making the playoffs is the benchmark they need this year.
Also this validates a re-signing for PG without a doubt.
You can’t win a championship right away but showing promise can lure in the pieces you need to compete in 2-3 years.
Ball-Russell-George-Randle-Zubac
Just move Ingram, the 28th pick, and Clarkson.
Maybe, but they’ll barely get into the playoffs. And they’ll likely be swept by the Warriors or lose in 5 games to another top 3 seed.
Report coming out of Phoenix that Knicks offered Porzingis for Booker and No. 4, and Phoenix declined
I would have, too.
Yeah. Now the Boston sports radio guys are foaming at the mouth because they think they can trade 3 and Brown for him…
Why wouldn’t they if they are going to trade for porzingis why would they trade there best player who they would want him to play with. If the offer was Bledsoe, the no. 4, a future pick or 2 , and maybe a project player I would do it in a heart beat
Yeah I know I was just relaying it before they wrote the article on it
Please just trade Ingram and #28 for Ingram now. Draft Lonzo with #2.
Lakers 2017-18 Lineup
PG: Ball, Clarkson
SG: Russell, Young
SF: George, Deng
PF: Randle, Nance Jr.
C: Zubac, Black
Stretch Mozgov, make an offer to Nerlens Noel (nothing crazy), or see how desperate the Pistons are to get rid of Drummond
Would love to see a deal here. Might require a 3rd team but it will make for an even more interesting Draft Night.
Lakers don’t want to give up No. 2 or Ingram then Indy will hang on to him until trade deadline, OR find another team that is willing to give a fair return and take its chances on signing George to a long term deal
Let the Cavs trade for him. Use your assets to acquire a player that will play alongside him. I.e. Porzingis. Heck why not trade assets to the Pacers and take KLove and the Cavs take PG13. That would be some out of the box thinking. Send Clarkson and Randle or Nance Jr plus the 28th to Pacers get Love.
I assume your thinking here is acquire KLove and then try and convince PG to sign in LA next offseason? This way LA would have Russell, #2 pick, Ingram, Love, and PG as their core? Risky since LeBron would have a year to try and convince PG to resign in Cleveland (assuming LeBron actually stays in Cleveland himself). I think if the Pacers were open to that, the Lakers would rather just skip the middleman and make it a two team deal. Because if I’m the Pacers’ front office (and I’m obviously not) and I was offered this deal, I’d rather just flip George for Love and then see what I could get for Love. While Love doesn’t have nearly as much trade value as George, I think some other team might be willing to offer more attractive assets than Clarkson/Randle/28th pick for Love than the Lakers could.
It’s a Risk, but LBJ, like you said, is even a wild card to leave Cleveland.
From what I’ve read/heard they want ‘young’ assets or picks. Don’t know that Love entices them. They want someone to grow with Turner.
For the Cavs, if they somehow trade away Thompson, JR, Shumpert and Frye without giving Love and bring in a PG13 or Jimmy Butler, whomever does that deal should just walk over to the HOF and get his likeness ready for a plaque.
Oh they definitely want someone to grow with Turner, I just think they could get more than Clarkson, Randle/Nance, and the 28th pick for Love.
And while Thompson’s contract is bad, who is their rim protector if he’s traded? A collection of old and/or washed up bigs (Bogut, Larry Sanders, etc) chasing rings will hardly come close to the on-court value Thompson could provide.
Well not Russell now lol
Can the Lakers request time to negotiate and long term deal with George before a trade? If not I wouldn’t do it.
I think that’s usually standard in most cases. Doesn’t seem like it would be in a Pacers Cavs deal b/c he wants to go to LA anyway.
They could, but I doubt the Lakers would be that concerned about that if trade terms were agreed upon. At that point, they only thing stopping George from resigning with the Lakers would be the Lakers themselves (and the extremely slim chance that the Clippers are able to lure him away).
Clarkson or Randle plus two late 1st rnd picks would be a horrible offer. The Pacers would be better of trading for Love and then open discussions to flip Love to a team that could have him in 3 peak years. They should be able to net more for Love than what the Lakers have reportedly offered.
I think Randle plus the 27th and 28th isn’t as bad as people act. Randle averages a double per season and can turn into a beast I think. If I was the pacers I’d rather have him than Clarkson because of higher upside. But I still do doubt it’s enough to get George just don’t think it’s as bad as everyone acts. People act like they need to give up the entire team for a player that has already said he will not come back next year. At least you’re getting some young assets in return. I’d be willing to bet it’s more than they’ve been offered yet. Like I said, I do not think it’s enough but just not as bad as y’all act like. Maybe the Lakers throw in another future pick in a few years when they don’t owe it to another team and that might be enough?
Considering the non-existant leverage the Pacers have in Paul George trade talks, the 27th and 28th picks, Randle, and Clarkson isn’t that bad. As a Pacers fan though, I’d rather they trade George for Love and try to flip Love. Love’s trade value is no where near what Cleveland originally gave up for him, but I also think Love could be flipped for more than what the Lakers are offering if Love is traded within a year. I think teams like Boston and OKC would be willing to talk about a Love deal whether it be in a three team trade with Cleveland or in a trade later on. Worst case, Love plays the season in Indiana and looks decent as a result of the Pacers having no other offensive options and some team tries to work out a trade next offseason when his value would be a little higher (assuming he plays well).
considering the teams that can offer assets, and the 2-3 teams that would, I would wonder if the pacers would do Tyler Johnson, Rodney mcgruder, Wayne Ellington (non guaranteed), mcroberts, and the 14th pick (would have to be taken for Indiana by miami before they can trade it) for Paul george? Of the teams that would offer assets for the 1 year, Boston is the obvious favorite,but what if they don’t want to risk it and would prefer butler, porzingis or someone else? I think it also tops this lakers trade speculation. Heat would be willing to risk it, in my opinion, whereas I don’t see Phoenix or Denver doing so, and I still don’t think the cavs have anything they can actually offer. So I see it as between the heat, celtics, and lakers….
As a Heat fan, i don’t think this would be a good trade for Miami, unless Miami is able to bring in another star like CP3 or Hayward.
I’d rather just invest in Hayward, hold on to those guys, bring back J Johnson, draft Zach Collins or TJ Leaf at 14, and aim to be a #3/#4 seed next season.
C Whiteside/Collins or Leaf/Haslem
PF Winslow/J Johnson
SF Hayward/McGruder
SG T Johnson/Ellington
PG Gragic/Richardson
Well, in the scenario I mentioned, they’d have enough money still to grab Hayward and something else, preferably JJ…or they could bring back both waiters and JJ, figure something out at the 5/keep Willie reed, bring in someone at the 4.3 million room exception, and a couple of guys at the minimum….
This is just the PG scenario that came into play a couple of days ago. I originally had different thoughts about our options
Wow Winslow at the 4. Talk about small ball lol. As much as I like formerlyz trade idea, I doubt Miami would trade for George unless they got an assurance he would resign with them. While they’re not really giving up too many significant assets in formerlyz’s proposal (outside of maybe the 14th pick), it’s not worth giving up those players when adding George is not likely to push the Heat past the Cavs.
Well, they have a lot working in their favor to convince PG to stay. Obviously,it only makes sense if he does, but heat would be willing to risk it IMO. They’d get his bird rights and could offer the 5 year max, 48 games per state income tax free. They have Pat Riley to build around him, and help him become a better leader. He also has a kid here, and another on the way. So, I feel like it wouldn’t be difficult to see him staying, especially b/c if they stay healthy, that team is at least a top 3-4 team in the east, and is probably better than that with further growth from Winslow and Richardson. You could do a lot worse than Miami, with all the variables considered, especially if the Lakers don’t have a ready made situation
The issue is, I find it hard to believe that PG will reject the Lakers next offseason because regardless, he’ll hit the open market since he wont sign an extension. Then there is the possibility of playing with LBJ in LA too… Just too many variables and its too risky for the Heat. PG is not the talent to invest in unless you are able to pair him with another bonafide star like LBJ or Durant, IMO.
But knowing Riley, this is the exact type of thing he would do, and has historically done. We can agree on that. I don’t know if it’s the right move, but it’s definitely under consideration, as well as a few other possibilities. That being said, this deal gets them a star without using any cap space, or relying on Hayward to leave Utah, and come to Miami over Boston
McRoberts! They should just bring back Collison, Hansbrough, and Hibbert while they’re at it too lol. Bring back the circa 2011-2012 Pacers lol. I’d be down for that trade. Johnson is kind of on the same field (value wise) as Clarkson and I’d take the 14th pick over Randle and two late first rounders.
This was in reply for formerlyz post right above…didn’t attach for whatever reason.
Cool…mcroberts only has 1 year at 6 million left. So you can open up 4 million with the stretch provision or he can give you minutes at the 4/5 off the bench. Ellington can also give you shooting on the wing, which you need, but his deal is non guaranteed, so you can cut him to open up another like 6.3 million or so…..the main assets would be Tyler Johnson, McGruder, and the pick. TJ is similar to Clarkson, but he is a tenacious defender at both guard positions. He is pretty relentless on both ends. To be honest, he’s probably my favorite current heat player, so it would hurt to move him, but he’s a necessary asset here. Mcgruder is also a combo guard, but plays the wing, and is a ridiculously good defender that accepts whatever challenges. Super hard nosed, but a quiet, work hard demeanor, and then he can shoot it. The pick gives you a chance to grab someone ahead of your own slot. Over the last few days, it’s starting to look like there may be someone there unexpectedly, so that definitely adds value, and allows you to be competitive while building around Turner and the rest
Smart move by the Kings. They could still get whichever prospect they wanted (outside of Fultz most likely) by staying at 5 plus can pick up another solid player at 10. Plus there would’ve been the risk of the Lakers keeping the #5 pick (sending the 10th pick to Indy) and still getting Lonzo Ball (assuming the Sixers take Fultz, I don’t see the Celtics or Suns taking Ball and the Kings should avoid Lonzo just because of Lavar…the last thing the Kings need is more unneccessary noise/drama from a player).
link to espn.com This one works but 4 team Trades never happen.
I assume that you’re assuming a bunch of picks are being sent to Indiana and Detroit (from LA and Boston) in this deal? Because while the salaries work, the value is so far off for both Indiana and Detroit. Especially since you’re replacing Randle with Boban (who is less valuable) and Detroit is taking on Deng’s contract while also giving up their best player in exchange for three role players (as in the haul for Drummond alone will be a decent haul, asking them to take on Deng’s contract will only increase how much Boston/LA have to give up).
Interesting development since most every report said the Kings were trying to do exactly this to guarantee themselves D’Aaron Fox…
Honestly I think the Kings should only be worried about who the Lakers pick if they stand pat. The Sixers are likely taking Fultz so they shouldn’t be a concern. I don’t really think Fox would fit in Boston (if Boston wanted another guard they would’ve been better off keeping the 1st pick, so I think they take Jackson/Tatum) or Phoenix (at least with Bledsoe still there and Ulis seeming to be a promising young point guard). Putting myself in the Kings shoes, I would want either Jackson, Tatum, or Fox, and one of those three should be available as long as the Lakers don’t shock everyone and pass on Ball to take one of them. Even if they really do want Fox and are worried that the Lakers might take him, I think they’re better off staying where they are as #5 and #10 should help them more than just Fox would.
I agree the Kings are better of staying there as well as the Lakers. Kings need more talented players while the LAkers need a great pass first PG.