Lakers Trade Rumors: Pacers reportedly ‘intend to move fast’ on a Paul George deal

The Indiana Pacers don’t intend to pace themselves in trade talks involving Paul George. While there was report that Indiana president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard had yet to reach out to the Los Angeles Lakers about a trade for George in the wake of news of his planned departure to Southern California, that doesn’t mean they aren’t working the phones in an effort to move him.

Zach Lowe of ESPN reports the “sense from teams talking to [Indiana] is that Pacers intend to move fast” on any potential George trades, although he added that “these situations are always fluid, but that is the general take right now.”

The one team already known to be talking to the Pacers about a deal for George is the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, although it might be hard for them to “move fast” in any deal due to a) their lack of assets and b) the fact their general manager is negotiating for his own job right now (via Dave McMenamin of ESPN):

He entered the 2016-17 season on a lame-duck deal after failing to come to an extension agreement with owner Dan Gilbert in the summer of 2016 while the franchise was basking in the glory of the first championship for the city of Cleveland in more than 50 years.

Griffin is still shepherding the franchise and fielding calls, like Pritchard's, even though his contract is set to expire June 30.

The lack of resolution in Griffin's situation with the NBA draft just four days away and free agency commencing in 16 days is starting to cause some unrest within the ranks in Cleveland.

"Insanity," a source told ESPN of the Cavs' front-office situation.

“Insanity” is a good way to describe not just the Cavaliers situation, but the rapidly escalating status of these rumors as well.

Now as Lowe noted, this stuff can change at any time. There is also the chance Indiana is trying to raise it’s own leverage by putting teams up against the imaginary timeline of “fast” so they feel compelled to come up with a good offer for George, or it’s possible they genuinely want to be done with this situation quickly.

Given that Indiana has yet to even approach the Lakers, however, a speedy resolution to George’s situation seems unlikely.

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