Paul George going to the Los Angeles Lakers seemed like a pretty good bet at one point, and it might still be one, but the competition for the NBA All-Star’s services could involve several teams.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski provided an update on George’s future during Tuesday night’s “NBA Draft: On The Clock” show.
“Like LeBron James, any place he would tell a team, ‘I’d like to come,’ they’d create salary cap space for him,” Wojnaroswki. said.
“But, Oklahoma City has done a great job on selling him on a future there. He liked playing with Russell Westbrook, and Steven Adams and Billy Donovan. They have a real opportunity to keep him, but the Lakers are home. He grew up in L.A. and when he left Indiana, his plan was that he would be in L.A. in a year. And so you have to credit Oklahoma City for really turning his head on that. But Philadelphia? He fits right in in Philly with that group. And Houston will be aggressive to try and see if there’s a way to get him there.”
The Rockets certainly could use a two-way star like George in their pursuit of dethroning the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference. Houston took Golden State to a Game 7 in the conference finals but lacked the scoring and defense on the perimeter to finish the job.
George was traded by the Indiana Pacers to the Oklahoma City Thunder last summer, but OKC’s season ended in disappointment with a first-round playoff series loss to the Utah Jazz. George scored just five points in Game 6 of that series as the Jazz eliminated the Thunder.
The 27-year-old forward figures to be the second-best free agent available this summer, assuming James also hits the market and Kevin Durant re-signs with the Warriors.
