L.A. Lakers Trying To Trade For Indiana Pacers’ Paul George, Better Off Waiting Until 2018 To Sign Him

By Jordan Long

The NBA Draft is tomorrow. The L.A. Lakers are trying to work a deal for Indiana Pacers’ Paul George. George is going to be a free agent in 2018 and has already said his landing spot will be the Lakers because he is from L.A. George grew up in Palmdale which is part of Los Angeles County. Should the Lakers really make a move for George?

Paul George is one of the top small forwards in the game today. He can play defense and score points. Last season George averaged 23.7 points, 3.3 assists, and 6.6 rebounds per game. His points scored were the most in his 7-year NBA career. The Pacers reached the NBA playoffs 6 times with him. George averaged 19.0 points, 4.0 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game in the playoffs.

The Lakers are hoping to land George because it would enhance the offense and the defense. They have already traded D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov, which saves them around $21.3 million in cap space. The Lakers have $10.3 million remaining in cap space before the luxury tax. They may not be done making moves to clear space to lure George.

George is a superstar the Lakers could build around. He can play offense and defense. The Lakers would be an improved team but one player can’t make them a playoff team by next season. They finished the year at 26-56, 15 games behind the Portland Trailblazers for the 8^th and final playoff spot in the West. George might help them to win at least 30 games, which for the Lakers would be in improvement.

The other setback for trying to trade for Paul George is his salary at $19.5 million. The Lakers need to move more cap space in order to have enough to sign Paul George to not hit the luxury tax. The Lakers could have George but it’s only for one year if they make a deal with the Pacers because his contract is up next summer. He may decide to move on to another team if it doesn’t work out with L.A.

The Lakers are better off waiting for him to hit free agency at the end of next

offseason. They won’t have to trade anything to acquire him and all George needs is to agree to a contract. The Lakers might have to overpay for him but they could offer him a long-term contract for him to stay in LA for the rest of his career. This is the better option.

What do you think of the L.A. Lakers trying to trade for Paul George?