Lakers: Three reasons why Paul George is not the answer

2. Trading for Paul George is highly unlikely

Now, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t HAVE to trade for Paul George in order to land him on the team. George owns a player option after this season and could easily become a free agent. If he does opt to stick around with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he is set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2019. Los Angeles could be patient and sign George, but trading for him is the only way to acquire other stars.

In trading for George, the Lakers would own Bird Rights on him, allowing the team to go over the cap when negotiating a contract extension. This is huge for the Lakers, who are battling cap space issues with the likes of Luol Deng and Jordan Clarkson under contract. Without those Bird Rights, the Lakers would need George and his superstar buddies to take a significant pay cut.

Thus, trading for him is the best, and maybe only, route to get George altogether. The problem? The Lakers chances of trading for George are slim to none. Los Angeles had the chance when the Pacers were shopping George but Victor Oladipo and pettiness from the Pacers prevented any deal from happening.

The window is shrinking in OKC with these guys under contract, so the organization should have no compelling reasons to part ways with either George or Anthony. Especially since Russell Westbrook signed an extension this last offseason. The Thunder have their guy for multiple years, so initiating an immediate rebuild by trading George makes absolutely no sense.

Thus, the Lakers are left out to dry, hoping that George opts out of his contract to give the Lakers a hometown discount. Those, unfortunately, are unrealistic hopes.