NBA Trade Rumors: Teams That Could Trade For Paul George

3. Los Angeles Lakers

As previously alluded to, the Los Angeles Lakers will make a run at Paul George during the summer of 2016. With its 2016 NBA Draft pick, the Lakers have a combination of trade assets that should be enough to at least bring Larry Bird to the negotiating table.

Without the draft pick, Los Angeles is essentially headed downriver without a paddle.

Los Angeles’ first-round draft pick is Top 3 protected in 2016, with the rights transferring over to the Philadelphia 76ers if it falls any lower than No. 3 overall. In other words, the Lakers’ odds of landing George likely depend entirely on the outcome of the 2016 NBA Draft lottery.

The hope for Los Angeles would be that Indiana is enamored enough with one of Dragan Bender, Jaylen Brown, Kris Dunn, Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray, and Ben Simmons that it’d be willing to trade George to draft one of them.

In order to execute the trade, the Lakers would need to include some combination of Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and D’Angelo Russell. Clarkson is a restricted free agent, which somewhat complicates things, but if he signs a multi-year deal, he could be a valuable asset.

There’s no guaranteeing this would work, but the Lakers’ combination of a Top 3 draft pick and two of its young rising stars would fit Bird’s desire to acquire offensive talent.

Next: Compiling Assets