Lakers Rumors: Pacers Didn’t Want To Give Paul George What He Wanted By Trading With L.A.

Trevor Lane
2 Min Read
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Pacers finally traded Paul George, but they shocked everyone by sending him to the Oklahoma City Thunder for what is viewed as a very light return. That’s not to say that Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis are bad players, but for a rebuilding team to accept an offer like that without any draft picks coming their way is surprising.

The thought had been that the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and a handful of other teams would pursue George, and all of them were rumored to be offering deals much better than what Oklahoma City did. So why did the Pacers accept such a low offer? ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne speculated on SportsCenter:

If Shelburne’s thoughts here are accurate, then the Lakers were effectively eliminated from the George sweepstakes simply because they only wanted to give George to the Lakers if they clearly won the trade, which wasn’t a concern with other teams.

They didn’t want to give in to George and lose the deal, so instead they decided to just lose the deal, even if it meant taking a weaker offer than the Lakers’ reported deal of two first round picks (the 27th and 28th picks in this year’s draft) along with Julius Randle and some other pieces to make the money work.

Shelburne also noted that the Pacers didn’t want to send George to the East since they would have to play against him four times a year, which made completing a deal with the Celtics or Cavaliers much less appealing. The Pacers have been getting lambasted for making such a poor deal since it was announced, and if Shelburne is correct and they had better deals on the table, then that criticism won’t be going away anytime soon.

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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