The Philadelphia 76ers were apparently in hot pursuit of four-time All-Star forward Paul George at last month’s trade deadline.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported on Tuesday that the Sixers were among the teams that the Indiana Pacers engaged in George trade talks at the deadline. Kyle Neubeck of Liberty Ballers added that the Sixers made a “significant” offer for George that supposedly involved Robert Covington, two future first-round picks, and Indiana’s choice of either Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor.
It was no secret that the Pacers were gauging George’s trade value prior to the deadline, and they reportedly received at least one other similar offer from another middling young team. But the subsequent comments that were made by president Larry Bird made it seem like the Pacers were never seriously considering moving the former No. 10 overall pick. Still, with George currently eligible to hit unrestricted free agency in 2018, the Pacers are unlikely to receive as rich of a haul if they decide to trade him before next year’s deadline.
As for the Sixers, their deadline was ultimately a bust as the biggest move they made was shipping Noel to Dallas for pennies on the dollar. A willingness to flip multiple young assets for an in-his-prime star like George is something we haven’t seen out of Philly in recent seasons, so it remains to be seen what their long-term plan is as Year 1 of the Bryan Colangelo era winds down.
