Over the last few weeks, Paul George has become a primary target in the trade market with the Los Angeles Lakers being one of the most discussed landing spots.
According to Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com, the Indiana Pacers had attempted to pry second-year forward Brandon Ingram from the Lakers in trade talks but to no avail.
The Pacers did talk to the Los Angeles Lakers about a package starting with Brandon Ingram, but the 19-year-old forward is exactly the kind of athletic player Magic Johnson wants on his team. He averaged 9.4 points and 4.0 rebounds as a rookie last season.
Throughout the entire process, the Lakers have made it clear that Ingram is off limits. Magic Johnson, who is the current President of Basketball Operations, even went as far as stating publicly that the 19-year-old is not up for discussion.
Although he didn't post eye-popping numbers on a nightly basis, Ingram displayed continued growth and development on both ends of the floor. In the month of March, he began to hit his stride offensively averaging 13.5 points on 51.7 percent shooting from the field with 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.0 steals in 11 games played.
Los Angeles clearly has some high aspirations for what Ingram could develop into over the next few seasons. Enough so to keep him out of the discussion for one of the league's top forwards. This combined with the overwhelming belief that George will sign with the team in free agency next summer makes it hard to believe the Lakers will budge on that stance.
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