The saga over where Paul George will play basketball after his contract with the Indiana Pacers ends next season started long ago, but with the Pacers being eliminated from the playoffs Sunday, and the offseason soon to arrive in full, the conversation is only going to pick up.
Former Pacers teammate and one-time All-Star Danny Granger weighed in on the discussion Monday when he joined our Bill Reiter on his radio show, "Reiter Than You."
Granger said that he would "love" to see George stay in Indiana with the Pacers, but added that "you can't fault him if he leaves," because he wants to win:
"You look at him in that press conference (after losing to Cleveland) and his face and the dejection on it – the guy wants to win," Granger said. "Money don't make everybody happy, but winning and success and your craft, that does fill a void that a lot of these players have. So you can't fault him if he leaves Indiana, I'll tell you that."
We likely won't get a resolution to this drama for a while, but we should get a big clue soon, as the All-NBA teams are due to be announced early in order to help teams prepare for the offseason. As has been well documented, the Pacers could offer George an extra $70 million if he makes an All-NBA team, which would greatly increase the odds of him staying in Indiana.
Until then, though, we will have to just wait and discuss, and then wait and discuss some more.
