Rockets 100% trying to get Paul George

It's interesting though, cause it seems like Indiana had no interest in taking Russell from the Lakers so, i suppose they shouldn't have any interest in Mudiay too since he's even worse....and btw for Denver he would be an easy asset to trade at this point, Murray is the guy they're betting on.

Harris would be nice for Indiana, even though he's already going to get paid next season.

Picks not sure, Denver has no picks aside for their own so, even if they trade their pick, doesn't seem that good of an asset...

EDIT: and btw, these talks happened before the draft, in this draft Denver had the pick number 13, and they traded it to Utah for Lyles and the pick 24 so..i guess at least we know for sure that Mudiay and the 13 definitely wasn't enough for Indiana, and this wouldn't be surprising since it has a similar value to Russell + 28 which i guess is what the Lakers tried to offer.

 

Oh ok, so that's not something happened today, they're saying it happened during draft night...i missed that.

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...george-leading-contender-land-carmelo-anthony

The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to pursue a trade for Paul George and will be a leading contender for Carmelo Anthony's services should Anthony secure an offseason buyout from the New York Knicks, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN that the Cavaliers engaged in serious three-way trade discussions leading up to the NBA draft on a deal that would have brought them George from the Indiana Pacers and landed Kevin Love, George's fellow Eastern Conference All-Star, with the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets were recruited into the talks to furnish the Pacers with the combination of promising young players and draft picks they are seeking before consenting to surrender George, whose agent, Aaron Mintz, informed Indiana management just over a week ago that George has no intention of staying with the club beyond the expiration of his current contract in June 2018.

‎The three teams ultimately could not agree to a final trade construction in time to complete a deal on draft night Thursday, but sources say the Cavaliers won't abandon their trade pursuit of George, believing that acquiring the 27-year-old and George potentially winning a championship next season alongside LeBron James is the one scenario that could convince the two-way menace to abandon his well-chronicled desire to join the Los Angeles Lakers as soon as possible.

The Lakers, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs are among the teams, sources say, that also pursued George trades aggressively ‎in conjunction with the draft.

Sources say the Nuggets, meanwhile, have made upgrading at power forward one of their offseason priorities, which is why they covet Love.

Denver, according to sources, also hopes to crash the list of suitors for Los Angeles Clippers unrestricted free agent Blake Griffin and Atlanta Hawks unrestricted free agent Paul Millsap.‎

The specific players Denver would have sent to Indiana are not immediately known, but veteran forwards Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler and guard Emmanuel Mudiay are all known to be available. The Nuggets, sources say, have made versatile big man Nikola Jokic and prized first-year guard Jamal Murray off limits in trade discussions.

Pacers president Kevin Pritchard, speaking to local reporters after Thursday night's draft, referred to the recent disclosure from Mintz regarding George's refusal to stay in Indiana beyond next season as "a total gut punch."

But Pritchard also expressed confidence in the same interview that the Pacers would find a palatable George deal in the near future, saying: "We have to look at every scenario. I'm confident that we'll get something, and there's so many things on the board."

Both the Cavaliers and Nuggets, when reached by ESPN over the weekend, declined comment about the proposed three-way George trade. Pritchard has refused ESPN's interview requests this month.

Although the Cavaliers remain without a full-time general manger since the abrupt recent parting between owner Dan Gilbert and GM David Griffin, Cleveland remains highly aggressive in pursuing immediate upgrades to its roster in the wake of a 4-1 NBA Finals defeat to Golden State, knowing that face of the franchise LeBron James has only one season left on his contract.

As ESPN first reported Tuesday, Cleveland made a trade push to acquire Jimmy Butler from Chicago before the Bulls wound up sending Butler to Minnesota on draft night.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst subsequently said in an NBA on ESPN Radio interview Thursday night that both Anthony and the Bulls' Dwyane Wade are candidates to sign with the Cavaliers in free agency this summer if they can secure buyouts from Chicago and New York, respectively.

The Knicks' inability to find a workable trade for Anthony -- who possesses a full no-trade clause -- and Chicago's decision to trade Butler and starting rebuilding around younger players has prompted speculation that both former All-Stars and close friends of James could end up on this summer's open market.

Although no trade for George came to fruition last week, sources say that both the Rockets and the Lakers remain determined to keep pushing for their own George deals. It's widely believed that the Celtics, meanwhile, want to sign a marquee free agent this summer such as Utah's Gordon Hayward and then trade for George.

"Everybody thought today was a trigger date because drafts picks were involved, but that doesn't mean you can't do things into the future -- future draft picks, players today, young players, older established players," Pritchard told Indiana-based reporters after the draft. "We're keeping everything on the board."​

 

maybe harden is pretty good at carrying guys. he's never had another all star offensive option in houston. If we get him another then we will look better in the playoffs!

 

No rebuilding team has use for Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Trevor Ariza or Ryan Anderson. Just like they have no use & no interest in Kevin Love.

I mean, it's nice some are trying to spin an Eric Gordon homecoming as to why the Pacers should trade him to Houston and that's their "best offer" but really, ...no.

Celtics should be the favorites, if they're willing to take the rental risk. Then the Cavs because I can never count on LeGM getting what he wants. Then the Rockets with a bunch of other teams trying to get in the mix.

 

Nobody wants Kevin Love either

 

I wouldn't be so very sure. We could use Kevin Love instead of Ryan Anderson. Especially with our jack-happy offense.

 

I think Denver would have legit interest .

A 4/5 pairing of joker and love would be one of the most skilled and best passing big combo the NBA has seen in a while .

Sure there are probably going to be deficiencies on D , but love is a bit underrated and Jokic is young and can always improve .

I'd love to see it.

 

This is getting interesting, very few teams think they can compete with GS. So it seems as if there are 4-5 teams actually trying to get better. And everyone else is accepting the rebuild. It's making it hard to move players that normally would be in demand

 

good lol. hopefuilly the rest of the league gifts us these players. everyone is having a firesale so the teams that actually want to get better have a lot of options. this could help us as long as harden signs that extension

 

But wait, I thought our team was stacked and that's why we won all those games?

 

And yeah, also one of the worst defensive front courts in the league...but, Denver want to add an all star caliber player at this point, and Love is still a pretty big name, especially for them so, yeah...

 

Bob Kravitz:

Latest on this 3-team deal?

I don't (think it happens). People in Cleveland don't want to hear that. I reached out to Pritchard & sources inside the Pacers. Haven't heard a yay or nay on it. Unless the Nuggets are willing to give up Jokic or Murray, I'm not sure how the Pacers make that deal. Sounds great for Cleveland & Denver. What does Indiana get out of it? Gary Harris is intriguing & a local kid but I don't see how this happens unless there's a bunch of first rounders coming from Denver. I don't see it happening to be honest. You can play this tape later & I'll probably look like an idiot.

Is Gary Harris in that conversation - someone the organization would be interested in?

I think so. Still a guy with a lot of untapped potential. We saw him here at Michigan State, being in Big Ten country. That's someone they might have interest in but they gotta sweeten the pot. Unless Jokic or Murray are involved, maybe Harris & a couple of first rounders, I don't see that one happening. I tend to not to look too serious at these rumors. There's a lot of BS going on. The Pacers are attempting to juice the market & give the impression there's a lot more out there for George than there might actually be.

Thought process in Indiana with Pritchard?

Kevin is solid. Look at what he did in Portland. He rebuilt that team in 3 years. Of course Roy & Oden fell apart but that team could've been great. Kevin has shown he's aggressive. I fully expect July 1st is the unofficial date to get a deal done. Money starts getting spent & less likely the market will be what they want it to be. I think something will happen in the next few days.

Hypothetically George does come to Cleveland. We know his talent. Would it work being 2nd or 3rd option?

Paul George is a great 2nd guy. He gives you someone to cover Durant. The only question I have is Paul plays with the basketball a lot. In Cleveland, Kyrie & LeBron have the ball. It would be difficult initially to get involved the way he was here in Indianapolis. It would take a lot of coaching & time before he came comfortable, but the time he got it, he'll be alright. He's not a lead guy. He's a very good second banana.

Biggest weakness of George?

Paul's biggest problem is he's not great off the ball. He's so used to having the ball in his hands. He's not great off the ball. He doesn't bring it every night. How much of that was him going down with the ship on a mediocre Indiana team where he had to be the alpha male every single night, I don't know. He's been great in the playoffs. I think he'd figure it out. It'd just take some time.

How surprised were the Pacers when he told them he doesn't plan to be around?

They were genuinely surprised. There was always this thought around here he'd like to go back home. In face to face conversations with Pritchard & Larry Bird before him, he gave every indication he wanted to stay in Indianapolis & build the team around him.

How many teams are we talking about here?

The only two that make sense are the Lakers - not wanting to take a chance on him going to Cleveland & loving it and I think it comes down to the Cavs. Who else is in position to go for it? I think it's a 2-team parlay. Maybe a Houston because they're kinda in that situation or think they are but I think it's largely a 2-team race here.

 

Forget about Paul George on our Rockets. It's no use without an extension. I would rather go for a much cheaper P. J. Tucker and retain the bulk of our team instead of him.

 

I doubt it will happen but I would like to see this pairing. It would be worth watching even if they lose more than they win. Very fun team

 

I love this portion... we always think we're in it, right Darl?

 

Don't worry CLE, the Wind got ya....