The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be working really hard in an attempt to get Paul George sometime in the near future. Earlier on Tuesday, the team decided to ship D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov’s unfavorable contract to Brooklyn in exchange for Brook Lopez’s expiring deal and a late first round pick in this year’s draft.
As it turns out, that wasn’t the only draft-related move the Lakers looked to make on Tuesday. Los Angeles reportedly got in touch with Sacramento about a move that would center around the Kings sending picks number five and 10 to the Lakers in exchange for the No. 2 selection this Thursday.
Lakers, per sources, engaged Sacramento in talks that would have sent the 2nd pick to the Kings for Sac’s two 1st-rounders (5 and 10) (1/2)
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) June 21, 2017
It would have been a monster deal, especially because this would almost certainly destroy the Lakers’ chances of drafting UCLA guard Lonzo Ball. But as it turns out, this would have only been part one of a two-part plan to use the No. 2 pick as a way to acquire George. As Aldridge reports, though, this didn’t work out, because the Kings shot Los Angeles down.
Lakers would have then packaged one of the Kings’ picks w/27 & 28 along w/player in offer to Indy for Paul George. But Kings said no (2/2).
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) June 21, 2017
This makes sense from Sacramento’s perspective, if only because they probably don’t want to help a division rival acquire an All-NBA caliber player like George. Plus with the number of holes the Kings have on their roster and the amount of talent in the top-10 of this year’s draft, it makes sense that they would want to hold on to as many picks as possible and get as much young talent on their roster as possible.
As for Los Angeles, they’re probably going to keep chipping away at a deal that could either land George or help get them to a deal that could land George. As Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports, odds seem to favor George moving prior to the draft.
Nonetheless, Pacers will continue to talk to teams. I'm told it's "highly likely" Paul George gets traded before the draft.
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) June 21, 2017
This lines up with reports from earlier in the week that said the Pacers want to move quick on a deal. Los Angeles was allegedly lining up a deal to get George, but the package they proposed wasn’t exactly stellar. Tacking on a lottery selection to what was proposed makes a deal way more enticing, but if Los Angeles wants to do that as of right now, it’ll have to be the No. 2 pick.
Still, there’s plenty of time for Los Angeles to work something out before the draft. If they can’t, well, they can always just wait to trade for him another time, or hope that he actually follows through on the rumblings that he will join the Lakers in free agency next offseason.
