After landing the No. 2 overall selection in the upcoming 2017 NBA Draft, rumors are continuing to pick up steam that the Los Angeles Lakers could very well be in the driver's seat to land Paul George.
Here's more from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
"For the Lakers, they are pretty confident and have a great deal of belief that they're in position to get Paul George in 2018. Whether he stays in Indiana or he's traded elsewhere, he's going to be a free agent in 18 if he doesn't re-sign this summer in Indiana. They don't have to give assets up to go and try to trade for him. In fact, I think they've been encouraged to do just the opposite. If Paul George is going to go there, he wants them to have assets. He wants them to be as good of a team as they can when he walks in."
There are three sides to every report — an agent, a team and the truth. This probably falls somewhere in the middle. It sure sounds slanted toward L.A., so we'll just imagine that's where it's coming from for now.
The Lakers have a chance to build quite the core in Los Angeles, and adding Paul George could make them quite competitive.
If he's seriously eyeing for an NBA title, Los Angeles might not be the best spot as of now, but how the young group of the No. 2 overall pick, D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram and Co. develops could certainly change things.
George missed out on making any of the three All-NBA teams, meaning he isn't eligible for the mega-max extension awarded to teams in an effort to give small markets the advantage to keep their homegrown stars. That makes it even more difficult for the Indiana Pacers to compete with the bright lights of L.A., or elsewhere.
(H/T Pro Basketball Talk)
