Merged: Who would you give up for Paul George?

They can if they're willing to pay crazy amounts of luxury tax. The Nets owner briefly flirted with that, then quickly gave up. Of course, that was for a mediocre team. It might be something the owners are willing to do for what has the potential to be a dynasty.

I think it's a different situation again for the Blazers. Depending on how this post-season goes, the Warriors will likely know that this is a championship core. Paying nearly as much for a core (in Lillard/McCollum/George/Nurkic) that could plausibly never win a single title (because of the Warriors, largely) would be a much harder call to make.

 

I think all the talk of him going to the Lakers is just that: talk.

He says he wants to win and the Lakers aren't winning anything anytime soon - even with him. It kind of made sense when it looked like both Westbrook and George could end up in LA as free agents in the summer of 2018, but ironically, the same super max contract provision in the new CBA that would have kept George in IND will most likely keep Westbrook in OKC.

He's not going to go to GSW and replace Durant or CLE and replace LeBron or SAS and replace Kawhi. BOS wouldn't be a bad fit, but I don't think Ainge wants to sacrifice their future to trade for him, plus it's even further from his family. If we did get him for a year, and we're a top 4 team in the West (possibly even top 2), I think we'd have the upper hand in re-signing him next summer.

As noted him and Dame are the same age, so they would play the prime of their careers together. C.J. is a year younger and Nurk helps keep that window open a little longer. He could certainly do a lot worse (like the Lakers) if his goal is to play for a contender during the prime of his career.

Paul George has always been a solid 2-way player, but he first made his mark as a stud defender when he had Roy Hibbert playing behind him. I think with Nurk behind him, we'd see a resurgence in PG's defense. Miles Turner is a good shot blocker, but he doesn't clog the paint the way a wide body like Hibbert or Nurkic do.

BNM

 

Good point. I know at one point there were rumors about him and George teaming up on the Lakers. The 10 year thing was the reason Westbrook only signed a two year (with a 3rd year player option) extension last summer. He knew he'd be eligible for the 10-year max after the 2017-18 season and could get a much larger contract at that point.

Still, if I was PG13, I would not want to team up with Westbrook (for the exact same reason Kevin Durant left). I know I'm viewed as the resident Westbrook hater, but would a guy like PG, who has been his team's No. 1 option for several years, really want to play out the prime of his career with someone as ball dominant as Russell Westbrook? Hopefully, he'd have a conversation about it with Kevin Durant before making that kind of career decision.

BNM

 

Why did you post that here?

That article doesn't even mention mention Paul George and there is already another thread about the exact same article.

BNM

 

What years are we talking about? They only have 1 this year (#19) They also have 31, but none the less our 3 picks should look pretty good before the draft starts.....when teams are most excited about the prospects. We know Pritchard loves picks!

 

If I am speculating:

Their's this year, Min's (that they own) next year. CLE and WAS in two years (that they own).

I not saying our picks aren't attractive. More that if IND isn't liking that many picks then they are going to fall on the sword an lose him for nothing (by thinking they can still keep him).

 

Yeah we can definitely trump that.

 

They only have their own pick in this year's draft, but in addition to their own picks moving forward, they also own MIN's 2018 pick (which could be fairly valuable if MIN misses the playoffs for the 15th straight season) and CLE's in 2019 (which will only be valuable if LeBron leaves or dies).

So, I suspect it was something like: Their pick in 2017 + the better of their pick or MIN's pick in 2018 + their pick and CLE's pick in 2019.

And that was when IND still had hope of offering PG13 a super max extension this summer. We can offer more and IND's asking price just took a major hit.

BNM

 

Bigger question is whether George would be happy as the second fiddle here.... this is Dame's team. No question about that. And even if Dame decided to take a reduced role on offense (IE less shots) I wonder if PG would be happy sharing the spotlight?

 

Conspiracy Theory:
As someone pointed out, Aaron Mintz's clients ( http://basketball.realgm.com/info/agent_clients/Aaron-Mintz/58 ) are
Allan Crabbe
Meyers Leonard
PG
Jordan Bell

So, we draft Jordan Bell with #26, then trade the other 2 picks, Crabbe, Leonard, ......

 

He wants to win or he doesn't. Kyrie and Love had to adjust and they're doing quite well now. Does Paul George want to be Minnesota Love or Cleveland Love? Or maybe he wants to be GS Durant? Who the number one option is ultimately works its way out. Everyone thought Miami would still be Wade's team when LBJ got there but it was LeBron who won the MVP Awards.

 

Allen Crabbe/Noah Vonleh/Three picks for Paul George

CJ for Jimmy Butler.

Dame/Napier
Butler/Turner/Connaughton
George/Harkless/Layman
Aminu/Davis
Nurk/Leonard

That starting five would be a contender in the west. I legit think we could go toe to toe with Golden State.

 

Never heard of this guy. How legitimate is he ?

 

That's pretty much the offer I've been thinking would at least get their attention.

 

He is not reporting that it's happening, only that we should be doing that I think.

I am still not convinced that two mid-first and one late first round picks will be enough of an offer. Crabbe is basically a salary dump/matching for us at this point. If we get George then our 2018 pick becomes worthless as we will have a top 5 record in the league, probably. Would probably better include 2019 pick as Indiana will know that George could well leave by then and we would be in shit because we will have given them all our assets.

Good thing that teams with better picks will likely stay away because George would never resign for any of them. Our offer could be the best they get, unless Boston enter the conversation. I don't think Indiana are going to fancy losing him for nothing.

 

With three first rounders this year, a team has a realistic shot at landing three rotational pieces. Not something you could really bank on in years past. The depth is this classes strength, rather than "can't miss" talent at the top. Three potential starters and a young, elite shooter is a pretty good offer for a potential rental.

 

If we give them all 3 of our 2017 picks, we can't give them our 2018 pick anyway. It's against league rules to trade away all your first round picks two years in a row (the Ted Stepien Rule).

BNM