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On Friday night, the Indiana Pacers made the surprising decision to trade Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder just before free agency began.
What drew the most attention from the move was the haul in return for George, as the team acquired only Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis and no draft picks in the deal. The Los Angeles Lakers were one of the teams in the hunt for the All-Star forward in the trade market, reportedly offering the 27th and 28th overall picks in this year's draft along with either Julius Randle or Jordan Clarkson.
In light of that, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN has revealed why the Pacers balked at the Lakers' offer for George last week:
Ramona on ESPN saying IND didn't take LAL trade bc they likely didn't want to give PG what he wanted w/out winning the trade
— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) July 1, 2017
It's clear that Indiana didn't want to give George the opportunity to go where he wants to play. Keep in mind, they were hard pressed on the Lakers offering the second overall pick in this year's draft or promising forward Brandon Ingram in a deal.
It is also believed that general manager Kevin Pritchard didn't want to deal him to the Cleveland Cavaliers or any Eastern Conference team for that matter:
Bottom line: Indy was not going to send Paul George to the Cavs no matter what
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 1, 2017
The Pacers were more than dismayed that George didn't want to stay long-term with the franchise and looked for a deal that placed him in the Western Conference on a team that wasn't on their radar. That said, his pairing alongside Russell Westbrook could make the Thunder one of the more intriguing teams next season.
Ultimately, all of this still puts George in the position to enter free agency next summer, where he could join the Lakers if he so desires.
