Paul George rumors: Portland and San Antonio have joined the race

With the Indiana Pacers looking to move Paul George before the NBA Draft, they are now considering serious offers from Portland and San Antonio for him.

The Indiana Pacers are vigorously trying to trade Paul George ahead of the NBA Draft on Thursday night. He’s been on the trading block ever since George made it clear to the Pacers he doesn’t want to return to Indiana after becoming a free agent in the summer of 2018.

Indiana doesn’t want to be like Oklahoma City — when they let Kevin Durant walk for nothing — and will try to flip George for future assets. With George’s intentions to head to Los Angeles and become a Laker, the Pacers wanted to get their future assets. LA was unwilling and it looks like Indiana is looking elsewhere.

Per Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, the San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers have jumped into the mix for Paul George. Supposedly, they have serious offers that Indiana would strongly consider. I still think PG13 has made it clear that he wouldn’t be signing long-term in either of those cities, but San Antonio is trying everything in its power to knock off Golden State next season.

San Antonio would likely have to include LaMarcus Aldridge, some draft picks and maybe some of their younger prospects like Dejounte Murray to make this worth it for Indiana. On the other hand, Portland has three first round picks this year that they could be willing to part with for a shot at George.

Next: 2017 NBA Mock Draft: The final predictions

Both teams would make sense for PG13. Portland is in desperate need of a two-way small forward who can score and defend. San Antonio is inching towards Golden State and adding PG13 could give them extra wings to bang with the Warriors in a playoff series.

Regardless, it seems more and more likely that George gets traded, but nobody knows where he will end up.