Prior to All-Star forward Paul George making the decision to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers were widely viewed as being the frontrunners to land him. This interest had piqued from the Lakers ahead of last year’s draft that saw them reach out to the Indiana Pacers for a possible trade.
Things on that front ultimately hit a standstill with the Lakers not budging from what they were willing to offer that did not include the second overall pick in that draft or forward Brandon Ingram. Adrian Wojnarowski during a recent podcast stated that the Pacers were ready to move George to Los Angeles had they offered one of those two assets in a deal.
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This was the sense that was gathered during that time frame as the Lakers were willing to part ways with their later first round pick along with either Julius Randle or Jordan Clarkson in any trade with the Pacers. Indiana decided to hold to him through the draft until less than an hour before the start of free agency.
Much of this was due to the sense that Los Angeles had that he was going to enter the free agent market this offseason where the team would be the frontrunner. At that time, George did have a significant amount of interest and set on joining them that offseason but things changed in his first year with the Thunder that led to him to re-sign with them.
It was situation simply didn’t turn out in the manner that the Lakers had hoped. However, the franchise is in a solid spot with their current roster led by LeBron James with their No.2 pick from last year’s draft Lonzo Ball and Ingram both positioned to play major roles in helping Los Angeles get back into the playoff picture next season.
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