After losing in the NBA Finals, many are starting to speculate who’s the best upgrade for the Cavaliers. Many think it’s Paul George and they still have a good chance to land him.
The Cavaliers got wiped off the floor in the NBA Finals, looking tired, old and slow in the process. Since Dan Gilbert is so deep in luxury tax payments, the likelihood that they sign top tier free agents is unlikely. Thus, the smartest way to give the Cavaliers a chance to compete against Golden State in the Finals is via trade.
Cleveland needs another wing that can create his own shot, make plays for others and more importantly, check Kevin Durant to free up LeBron. The most obvious answer to this riddle is to add Paul George to the fold and make a run at the ‘ship. But pundits in the media wondered how the Cavaliers would be able to convince the Pacers to trade George for Kevin Love, straight up.
Paul George might have very well helped out the Cavaliers, as Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Pacers’ star has told the Pacers that he’ll leave via free agency in 2018 and likely join the Los Angeles Lakers.
Indiana had built up some leverage in trade talks, as George excelled down the stretch and there seemed a slim chance that PG13 would come back to Indiana. All the chips that the Pacers had for possible trade talks has vanished. Now teams will worry if George is a flight risk to leave in a year via free agency. General managers will worry about giving up anything of value for someone who would ideally be a one-year rental.
But that’s where the beauty of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and David Griffin comes in. LeBron can pick up the phone, call his “Young King” and convince him of his importance to the Cavaliers. The King should be able to sell George on the idea of Cleveland pretty easily. The Cavs have been in the last three NBA Finals and don’t show any sign of slowing down. If George has aspirations of joining a championship contender, why not the Cavaliers? Kevin Durant did the same thing and he’s being revered as an NBA Champion. Cleveland will have to sell PG13 on his role and why he will be an essential piece if the Cavs want to dethrone Golden State.
PG13 won’t have the Kevin Love role. He won’t be relegated to the three-point line or the corner. George has to go get buckets on the offensive end, put pressure on opposing defenses and guard opponents’ stars to relieve LeBron of that pressure.
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Now if you’re in the front office of the Indiana Pacers’ organization, this is the worst thing that could’ve happened. You thought you could flip George for a bevy of first-round picks and rebuild your roster. But teams will be scared of touching PG13 — except for the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron and Co. should be confident in their ability to convince George to stay for the long-term future. So the Pacers probably have to look at it like this: we can get Kevin Love in return for Paul George rather than nothing.
As a result of the leaked report, the biggest beneficiary might not be the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers. They might have the leverage and ability to flip Kevin Love for Paul George now.