FanPost

ANOTHER PAUL GEORGE POST

I put the below in as a comment in the Is A Paul George Trade Worth The Risk post, and bballpragmatist said it should be a fan post, so blame him/her for this Paul George post :)

I think, in any scenario of trying to land Paul George, we can't underestimate on where he is willing to be traded to.

A player of his level does get a say on where he is traded to, even without a trade clause, or you risk trading him to a team that he refuses to go to, and get even less value, than if you tried to trade him to a team he is willing to go to. Besides the rumors of George wanting to play for the Lakers, the only public comments he has made are that he wants to win. I’m not going to look at the East teams because if I am Indiana, I want to send him to the West, unless Boston comes calling with either the number one pick or next year’s unprotected Brooklyn pick.

So, what teams out West fit the criteria that he could win now with and have some possibly attractive pieces for Indiana? The best place to start is with this season’s playoff teams. I think, we can safely assume that Golden State wouldn’t make a play for him because they are already loaded, unless, they wanted to switch out Klay Thompson for him and throw any young players they have into the deal too. Any draft picks they have would be really low, so that wouldn’t necessarily be appealing for Indiana, but they would get an All-Star in return for George. I just don’t see this as a likely scenario, and it would be hard to imagine GSW disrupting their line-up that much. Plus, it’s not like GSW’s need him. So on to the rest.

Spurs-It’s obvious why George would consider the Spurs with their pedigree and Pop, and he and Leonard could form a devastating perimeter duo probably not seen since the days of Jordan and Pippen. If the Spurs did want to make a deal for George, it would center around LMA, most likely, but is an aging All-Star on the wrong side of 30 really what Indiana would want in return for George? Typically, when teams send out their star player, they want young players and draft picks, but this would keep them in the playoffs (if they re-signed Teague), and maybe that is more important to the Pacers than rebuilding. The Spurs do own all of their own draft picks, but have no incoming ones from other teams, and whatever future picks they would give up would be low, so the appeal for Indiana would be getting an All-Star in return. I don’t know, if the Spurs would risk losing LMA for a possible one year rental of George either.

Houston-The main appeal for George would have to be playing with Harden, but I have a hard time seeing Indiana being interested in trading with Houston because it would have to center around Ryan Anderson or Eric Gordon, and the Anderson contract is a little worrisome in that do the Pacers want to pay $20 million for a soon to be 30 year old role player? Gordon is a little bit younger and his deal is more favorable, but if you are going the re-tool route post-George, is Gordon good enough, coupled with Indiana’s other players (most notably a re-signed Teague), for them to remain competitive in the East? Plus, Gordon came off the bench for Houston, and he had his healthiest year in a long time, so can Gordon hold up for a full season of starting? Also, Houston doesn’t have any juicy incoming draft picks from other teams, just two second rounders from this year’s draft. They do have their own future first round picks (not this year’s pick), but those would probably be low first rounders. I just don’t see a deal feasible between those two teams.

LAC-The appeal for George is obvious. He would get to play in LA and play with, possibly, one of the all-time best point guards in Chris Paul. But just like trying to construct a deal with NY for Melo, it is hard to construct one that Indiana would consider appealing. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are free agents, and if Indiana wanted either of them in a George deal (which they would probably want Griffin because of his age vs. Chris Paul’s age), Griffin or Chris Paul would have to agree to a sign-and-trade deal, and besides the fact that sign-and-trades rarely happen anymore, I just can’t see either of those players agreeing to go to the Pacers. Their next free agent is Redick, and I can’t see him agreeing to go there either which leaves an aging Jamal Crawford or Austin Rivers as centerpieces for any deal, and I can’t see Indiana accepting either of those players in return. But what about DeAndre Jordan? I don’t think Indiana would want him in return because if they trade George, then they are looking to build around Turner, who plays the same position. Also, they don’t have this year’s pick and owe their 2019 pick to Boston, and the only extra pick they have coming in is a second rounder from Cleveland in 2020. So I just don’t see a deal happening between them.

Utah-I don’t see George wanting to play in Utah, and I can’t see any of the players Utah would be willing to give up appealing enough to Indiana.

OKC-Like Houston, the appeal of playing for OKC, for George, would be teaming up with Westbrook. OKC does have some young players that Indiana could be interested in like Oladipo or Sabonis, and OKC has this year’s first rounder, but do owe their 2018 and 2020 first rounders to other teams, so any future first would be too far in the future to be appealing, most likely. They do have a couple of extra second rounders coming in next year that they could include. Basically Indiana would have to buy in that getting Oladipo and/or Sabonis would be the equivalent of getting first rounders. But, if George really wants to play with Westbrook, why wouldn’t he just play out the year with the Pacers, then see if next year, the Lakers can clear enough cap space to sign him and Westbrook outright, and he gets to play in LA and with Westbrook too.

Portland-The main appeal for George would be wanting to play with Lillard and CJ. As with any of these scenarios like the one in Houston or OKC (where playing with other players is the main motivation and not coach/city), it really depends on what kind of relationship George has with any of these players or what kind of reputation these players have among other players in whether he would try to force his way onto those teams. Also, it probably depends on how George sees himself fitting next to these players too. I’ve outlined in other posts what I think Portland’s best deal would be for George. My trade would be: Crabbe, Harkless, the 15th and 26th pick from this year’s draft, and either Davis or Ezeli’s contract for George, their second round pick, and either Ellis or Jefferson. I wouldn’t want to give them any future picks because of George being able to bolt next year. However, if Indy insisted in Portland giving up all three of their picks from this year or a future one (with the 15th and 26th picks), then I would insist on Thad Young, instead of Ellis or Jefferson in the deal. Unlike, the other West playoff teams, they can offer multiple picks right away and young players (though not on their rookie deals anymore), who may develop into better players with more playing time/responsibility, though not necessarily better than some of the other players that the West playoff teams can offer.

As far as the non-playoff teams in the West, I can’t see him wanting to play in Sacramento or Denver. Dallas is probably getting too old and is heading for it’s own rebuild to be too appealing. New Orleans could be intriguing with Davis and Cousins, but they don’t really have any other players to offer in return, and they don’t even have this year’s draft pick because of the Cousins trade, so I can’t see a deal happening for Indiana. Does possibly playing with Towns and for coach Thibs appealing enough for George to agree to go to Minnesota (I would bet Wiggins would go in a deal for George)?? Maybe, Phoenix, if they kept Bledsoe in any deal could be appealing for George?? They would definitely have some assets that Indiana would want like the 4th pick in this year’s draft. However, they were the worst team in the West this year, and if George is going to force himself to any bottom dweller it would be the Lakers, who do have the second pick and young players that Indiana would want in a George deal.

So I would see Portland’s main competition in landing George being OKC or the Spurs from the playoff teams, depending on if the Pacers want to go the re-tool route (Spurs) or more of the rebuild route (OKC or Portland). Unless, GSW did want to jump in and offer Klay Thompson or even Draymond Green for George. Of the non-playoff teams, I see the Lakers being the only real threat to land him because of the combination of this year’s pick and the young players they could offer in return.