Anyone who is hoping Paul George will get a new home before this season is out will need to find something else for which they can yearn.
The Indiana Pacers aren’t dealing him.
That was the prevailing message in Adrian Wojnarowksi’s latest podcast for The Vertical, as relayed to us by HoopsHype:
There’s basically no chance the Pacers trade Paul George, Adrian Wojnarowski said in his latest podcast for The Vertical:
“I know teams have been calling Indiana and asking about Paul George and the answer is absolutely, positively no (to a trade). ‘He’s not available, there’s no conversation to be had, don’t even make offers to us. We’re not moving Paul George.'”
“Their mindset in Indiana is to continue to try to build around Paul George and Myles Turner and try to find a combination around them that will get Paul to want to re-sign and stay there.”
“That being said, I think the Pacers are very much open for business with almost everybody else.”
This isn’t terribly surprising.
George has the option of becoming a free agent after next season, which he will exercise, at which point he could leave the Pacers for nothing. But that’s a big assumption to make if he hasn’t informed team president Larry Bird of any plans.
The hardest thing to do in the NBA is find a superstar, and George is a damn good one. Plus, the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement is supposed to make it even harder for stars to jump ship, because the contracts their teams can offer relative to other squads will be so damn appealing.
This isn’t to say George won’t leave. Nor is to say the Pacers couldn’t be convinced to part with him for the right price. But it does look like any real George speculation will need to wait until this summer before it gains any legitimate traction.
