NBA Trade Rumors: Paul George Headed To Cavs If LeBron James & Cleveland Lose NBA Finals?


A new batch of NBA trade rumors has surfaced suggesting that Indiana Pacers All-Star Paul George could be traded to conference foe Cleveland. It’s no secret that George will be a highly-coveted free agent in the coming offseason.

Previous rumors have speculated that franchises such as the Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics may try to find a way to add “PG13” to their roster. However, now there’s talk that the Cleveland Cavaliers could try to land the All-Star in order to give them an even stronger “super team” to compete with their toughest foe in the NBA Finals yet. Will George simply leave Indiana, or will the Pacers make a deal?

On Monday’s episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, FS1 NBA analyst Chris Broussard stopped by to discuss the latest Cleveland Cavaliers situation. Right now, with the team down 2-0 in the 2017 NBA Finals, it’s looking like they’ll have slim chances to win it all. Even though LeBron James and the team came back from down 1-3 in last year’s Finals to capture the title, the latest Golden State Warriors presents them with the challenge of a fourth superstar: Kevin Durant. With that in mind, Broussard proposed what he thinks the Cavs should do for next season, and that involves trying to up the talent on the roster.

Indiana Pacers star Paul George would help boost Cleveland’s chances at overtaking the Warriors for the NBA title. [Image by Andy Lyons/Getty Images]

Broussard says in a clip now making the rounds online that the Cavs need to recruit Paul George to play in Cleveland. The FS1 analyst suggests that the Cavs management needs to tell LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to work on “recruiting George,” letting him know that they need his services to beat the Golden State Warriors. The idea is that George is probably a future Hall of Famer and that winning a title is clearly the biggest goal that has eluded him. From there, George would go to his management in Indiana and let them know he’s deciding to opt for free agency and that they can trade him there in order to get some value back if they want to. That would make the most sense for the Indiana Pacers, a team that still wants to try to compete in the Eastern Conference.

A trade suggested by King James Gospel writer Nathan Beighle would involve the Pacers trading George to the Cavs in exchange for three players and a future draft pick. The proposed deal would bring Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, and Cedi Osman, along with a draft pick to Indiana. This might put the Pacers back in rebuild mode, or they still could prosper with their current roster. Jeff Teague averaged 17 points and six assists per game, while the team also got scoring boosts from Thaddeus Young and Myles Turner. By bringing in Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert, it could help them reshuffle the roster a bit to create a new contender.

A trade makes the most sense for the Indiana Pacers in this predicament. If they’re going to lose their franchise player, they’ll want to get some sort of value in return. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers would also have to approve of the trade. Would they be willing to give up Tristan Thompson as part of the deal? Based on his performance thus far in the NBA Finals, it may not be too tough to part ways with the big man. The Warriors have shown that as long as they have the four major stars, having an “OK” big man is good enough.

Down 0-2 in the NBA Finals, the Cavs may want another star player on their roster. [Image by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]

As far as the Cavaliers’ situation goes, there are other NBA rumors going around as far as how they can recharge their roster. One of them suggests that Carmelo Anthony could come to Cleveland, while Kevin Love would be on the move. However, that would subtract an All-Star while adding one. The Cavs may also look toward the Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler, but as of this report, only Carmelo Anthony and Paul George rumors have persisted regarding who Cleveland should go for. Ultimately, LeBron James will have a lot of power in helping to persuade one of these players to join his mission to claim more NBA titles.

As with any of these top NBA stars, money could play a factor in bringing them on board, but there’s plenty of examples of other stars taking a salary cut in favor of winning that elusive first NBA Championship. Would Paul George do the same, and would he be the fix that Cleveland might need?

[Featured Image by Joe Robbins/Getty Images]

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