The Lakers are reportedly a ‘very, very real’ threat to sign Paul George in free agency

Indiana Pacers All-Star Paul George sounds tired of hearing his name in rumors, but the whispers about possible trade destinations for him or his free agency intentions don’t look set to stop any time soon.

Zach Lowe of ESPN is the latest to chime in, writing that “the Lakers threat to sign George in 2018 is very, very real” and that observers should “expect George talks to start again in the summer.”

Of course, 2018 is still a long ways away and fans of the Lakers excited at the prospect of a homecoming for the Southern California native holding their breath until then would be medically inadvisable, but the old idiom goes that “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” and there has certainly been a whole lot of smoke about George returning to Los Angeles recently.

It remains to be seen whether or not they denote a fire, or just another cold shower for the Lakers.

Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here or listen to our thoughts on George below), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.