Pacers listening to Paul George trade options

The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Pacers are kicking the tires around the league on a potential trade involving Paul George. From Woj's latest article on PG:

The Pacers are working the trade deadline on parallel fronts: Pursuing deals that will bring talent into Indiana to sell George on signing a long-term extension – and soliciting deal offers on George that would signal a rebuild around center Myles Turner, league sources told The Vertical.

Ultimately, the Pacers will have to evaluate the two paths and make a decision before Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline. There’s no urgency to make a deal for George, unless the Pacers fear the Boston Celtics could ultimately provide Indiana the best possible package of assets in a deal – and think that option could disappear if Boston makes a deal with Chicago for Jimmy Butler.

Not surprising that the Pacers are assessing PG's trade value as I assume that is a repetitive exercise for any diligent NBA front office. It also continues a trend of the Pacers publicly denying their intentions to deal a player while obviously keeping their options open to complete a deal. No one in the NBA is untradeable, but the Pacers would need to net a strong package in return for PG at this point. Letting him walk with nothing in return (other than lots of cap space) is better than a bad trade package.

No only would they be scuttling this season, but likely a couple of more to build around a young core anchored by Myles Turner. Woj also mentions that PG is interested in signing his next deal with Indiana or the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are PG's "or else" leverage for the Pacers to improve enough to keep him.

Happy Trade Deadline Eve! Stay tuned...