Should the Lakers trade for Paul George if the 76ers blow it up?

Things are off to about as bad a start in the Paul George era for the Philadelphia 76ers as was previously conceivable. The team is currently ranked dead last in the abysmal Eastern Conference with a 2-11 record. George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey have been in and out of the lineup with various maladies.

When Embiid hasn’t been fighting local media, he’s apparently been annoying his fellow stars with his unprofessionalism. Oh, and they owe their pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder this year if it falls out of the top six.

So, what happens if Philly decides to protect that pick by embracing the tank? It is the organization that patented The Process in the first place, after all. Should the Los Angeles Lakers kick the tires on any of the stars who have put the Sixers in this predicament?

If Philadelphia does blow it up, and the Lakers make a couple of calls, Embiid doesn’t make much sense because Anthony Davis is just better. Maxey is almost certainly off the table entirely because of his age and rapid ascent. Which leaves… Paul George.

As hilarious as it would be for George to be the reason the Los Angeles Clippers landed Kawhi Leonard and become one of the most disappointing star pairings ever only to walk in free agency and potentially win a championship as a Laker, it’s just not worth the headache that seems to follow George.

Paul George has the tangibles but history with past teams brings up questions

In just basketball terms, George makes a ton of sense. He’s a knockdown three-point shooter, especially in catch-and-shoot opportunities. He can handle the ball, too, which helps when either Davis or LeBron James is off the floor. Athletically, he’s still got enough in the tank to defend well, too. In theory, it’s perfect.

But that’s the thing with George, isn’t it? In theory, he’s a fantastic basketball player easily talented enough to be considered a cornerstone of any franchise. The reality of Paul George is very different.

As the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Clippers and, now hilariously quickly, the Sixers have found out, there’s something missing with him when it comes to actually upholding a winning culture. And if things aren’t working out, it’s only a matter of time until he starts looking for the next opportunity to fall well short of expectations. It’s always just a matter of time until he has one of those memeable postseason moments he’s become a little too famous for over the years.

In Los Angeles, George made roster request after roster request and played only 30 or so more games as a Clipper than Leonard did, even with Leonard missing an entire season to a torn ACL. By the time George left as a free agent, he was saying publicly how disinterested he was in doing the little things any longer and aired all the dirty laundry about the negotiations between him and the Clippers that led to his departure.

It’s just hard to confidently put your trust in George, whose list of injuries is only challenged by the list of weird departures.

What would it take for the Lakers to acquire Paul George?

There’s also the matter of what it would cost the Lakers to even try to acquire George and how complicated doing so would be in Rob Pelinka’s “Apron World.”

For starters, they’d have to send out enough to match George’s deal this year, which sits at $49.2 million. Because of how close the Lakers are to the second apron, they would need to match it essentially dollar for dollar, while also leaving some wiggle room to sign players into the roster spots left by the guys Rob Pelinka would send out.

Without getting too deep into the weeds, the Lakers and Sixers both sit right up against the second apron, which means they’d both have to trade almost dollar for dollar to make the trade work under the CBA, let alone find a combination of assets both teams would agree to under those parameters.

Morey also isn’t moving George unless he’s getting all your draft capital, too, so L.A. would almost certainly have to send out the two first-rounders they can this year, and then some.

So, you’re probably looking at a trade of D’Angelo Russell’s expiring $18M, Rui Hachimura ($17M), Gabe Vincent ($11M) and either Jaxson Hayes or Cam Reddish ($2.5M), plus the 2029 and ’31 first-round picks and probably a few second-rounders/picks swaps on top of it all, and that’s if Philly doesn’t demand Dalton Knecht or Austin Reaves.

What’s interesting is most Lakers fans in a super scientific Twitter poll agree that it’d be wise to stay far away from George:

End of the day, it’s still extremely unlikely George is traded during only his first season in Philly.

Beyond that, the Lakers don’t have the assets to compete with some of the teams potentially interested if George somehow hits the trade market. But even if they did have enough to land him, the Lakers would be wise to remember the reality of having George on your roster is very different from the concept.