Indiana Pacers Trading Paul George Seems Unlikely to Happen This Summer
George still has one guaranteed year left on his contract with the Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George has been at the heart of many trade rumors for a while now, but recent developments around the NBA makes it hard to imagine that an actual deal will materialize this summer.
The first reason why it does not look like a trade involving George will happen this offseason is because of his contract.
George currently has one guaranteed year left on his deal as well as a player option he can exercise if he wants to stay with the Pacers through the 2018-19 season, per Hoops Hype.
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Had George been selected to one of the three recently announced All-NBA Teams, he would have been eligible to sign a lucrative extension with the Pacers that would have greatly exceeded anything any other team could have provided.
Alas, George was not chosen, and while the Pacers can still offer him a big-money extension, that contract is not quite as significantly large than what other teams can bring to the table. This makes it seem less likely that the All-Star forward will re-sign now as opposed to testing free agency next year.
On top of that, a recent report from USA Today's Sam Amick featured some interesting bits of information shared by an anonymous source. The source shared that money does not matter as much to George as what most people may believe.
That again makes it seem that George will not commit to any extension at this point, meaning a potential trade for him could end up being a one-year rental.
Another factor that can derail a potential George trade is that there may be no team willing to pony up the assets needed to make that kind of swap happen.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics were viewed as the two teams who may have the assets needed to trade for George, but those teams may be unwilling to make a move now given that they can wait for just one more year and potentially have the opportunity to sign the star forward without needing to give up anything other than cap space and money.
There is a decent chance that the Pacers' opportunity to trade George and still recoup fair value has already passed by them.
At this point, it is getting harder and harder to picture a George trade happening, and next season could also end up becoming his last one as a member of the Indiana Pacers.
More news about the latest NBA trade rumors should be made available soon.
