After a first-round playoff exit, would the Indiana Pacers consider blowing up the team and trading star forward Paul George?
OK, stop laughing.
Bill Simmons, formerly of ESPN, said on Twitter that the Los Angeles Lakers want to make a run at George, giving up their top-3 pick in the NBA Draft.
Also hearing that the Lakers want to make a BIG run at Paul George with their top-3 pick plus other stuff. (Not that they'd get him...)
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 4, 2016
In 2013, George said it would be a difficult proposition to turn down an offer from Kobe Bryant and join the Lakers, his hometown team.
But a lot has changed since then.
He signed a five-year max deal that year, which will end after either the 2017-18 season, or the 2018-19 season, depending on a possible player option. George has also solidified himself as a legitimate NBA franchise player, and somebody the Pacers have built their team around.
If the Pacers did entertain the thought of trading George, they could no doubt get a king's ransom for the 26-year-old. According to Simmons, the Lakers' best player, 20-year-old point guard D'Angelo Russell, and a top-3 pick wouldn't be enough for the Pacers.
Piggybacking on the George-to-LA hype, Bleacher Report posted what he would look like in a Lakers jersey, causing Pacer fans everywhere to become ill.
.@BillSimmons What if... pic.twitter.com/jC1AXj1Ffh
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 4, 2016
While Pacers Team President Larry Bird has been unpredictable in some offseason moves in the past, don't expect to wake up one day this summer to find out that his team's best player has been traded for a 20-year-old and an unknown pick.
