Paul George‘s impending departure from Indiana has the Pacers looking for trade partners, and reportedly, the Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the teams that have been contacted.
New story: IND has reached out to CLE about Paul George (@TheVertical first). Cavs entertain it w/o longterm commit https://t.co/E6M1mWmaxd
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) June 19, 2017
The Cavs, however, know that George ultimately wants to end up in L.A.
The 27-year-old superstar will be a free agent next summer, and is coming off averages of 23.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals this past season.
Per ESPN:
The Cavs are willing to enter into trade talks for George without any assurances he will commit to a long-term deal in Cleveland, a source familiar with the Cavs’ thinking said. Cleveland is confident its championship culture and overall atmosphere could sway George to want to stay after playing out the 2017-18 season on the final year of his deal.
That said, there are only two assets the Cavs possess that would likely grab the Pacers’ attention in a potential swap (operating under the assumption that LeBron James is untouchable): Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.
And to part with either the 25-year-old Irving or the 28-year-old Love, both coming off All-Star seasons and on relatively economical long-term deals, without any verbal commitment from George that he planned to stay in Cleveland beyond 2018, would be “hard” to agree to, one source familiar with the Cavs’ thinking said.
