Lakers Free Agency Rumors: Paul George will only commit to sign ‘long-term’ with the Lakers or Pacers

The Los Angeles Lakers, now led by president of basketball operations Magic Johnson, are known to be aiming to trade for Indiana Pacers star Paul George “right now.” George is also reportedly interested in signing with his hometown Lakers in free agency, however, it’s “considered unlikely” that the Lakers make a deal for George before then.

The Lakers still have a few more hours as of the time of this post to get a deal done for George if that’s the route they choose to go, and what may help their case — as well as possibly dissuade other teams from trading for him — is the latest report from Chris Haynes of ESPN, who writes that “teams mulling Paul George trade [are] apprehensive knowing he wants to win [with the] Pacers,” and that his “Plan B is Lakers.” Haynes writes that George “won't commit long-term outside those two.”

If the Lakers want to make a deal for George, they’ll likely have to include at least one or two of their most promising young players, considering that Indiana reportedly won’t even consider trading George to the Boston Celtics without inclusion of their unprotected first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets that currently has the best odds to be first-overall in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.