The Los Angeles Lakers have continued their pursuit of Indiana Pacers swingman Paul George, but remain unwilling to part with the second overall pick in the draft or rookie forward Brandon Ingram, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
It was reported earlier that the Pacers would have an increased interest to trade George to the Lakers if the number two selection was made available in the trade, but now it seems like that won't be the case.
As it sits, Los Angeles is willing to package hybrid guard Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and the 28th overall pick in this year's draft in exchange for George — a price that hasn't sat well with Pacers president Kevin Pritchard yet.
Wojnarowski emphasized that the Pacers “aren't looking to take care of Paul George with this” — simply looking for the best potential deal coming their way. They aren't considering what his desires are when it comes to his destination in a deal.
“The Lakers aren’t giving them Brandon Ingram,” added Wojnarowski. “They aren’t giving them the No. 2 pick.”
George could still choose to play out the entirety of the year, but the Pacers will do everything in their power to get something in return for their All-Star forward.
“I think Paul is fine with playing this year out in Indiana,” said Wojnarowski. “I think he'd almost prefer to play this year out in Indiana than all of a sudden be a player who is wearing one uniform and then another uniform in L.A.
“I don't know if they want to make it easy for a Boston or a Cleveland to do a trade for him. I think he'd prefer that he'd just stay in Indiana or be traded to the Lakers. I don't think Paul's camp is going to help this process along in terms of finding a team outside of L.A. to move him to.”
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