Cavs' Dan Gilbert on Pacers' Haul for Paul George: 'Indy Could've Done Better'

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert suggested Wednesday that the Indiana Pacers could have gotten a better trade package for Paul George than the eventual deal they received from the Oklahoma City Thunder of Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.

"I will say Indy could've done better," Gilbert said, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.      

Rachel Nichols of ESPN added:

And Adam Schein of SiriusXM agreed with Gilbert: 

His comments didn't sit well with everyone, though. 

Matt Moore of CBS Sports didn't think Gilbert was in a position to be critical:

"

Dude saved by two (plus they had it in 2013) No. 1 picks in five years and the fact that LeBron was born in Ohio throwing shade. Amazing.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) July 26, 2017"

And Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel was surprised by the remarks:

Gilbert's comments seem to suggest the Cavaliers indeed made an offer for George, as has been reported.

On Sunday, Ramona Shelburne, Dave McMenamin and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com wrote that the Cavaliers had a tentative agreement in place with the Pacers and Denver Nuggets on June 30. The three-team trade would have sent George to Cleveland, Kevin Love to Denver and Gary Harris and "other pieces" to Indiana.

But Pacers general manager and president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard reportedly backed out of the deal.

Per the ESPN report, "The teams tried to save it, but shortly thereafter, news broke that George was being traded to Oklahoma City. Pritchard might have had many reasons for changing his mind, including not wanting to trade George to a division rival. In the end, all that mattered was George was no longer an option for the Cavs."

The inability to land George was another pivotal development for Cleveland in what has become a wild offseason, which included the departure of David Griffin as GM and Kyrie Irving's trade demand, per Windhorst.

Much like Indiana, Gilbert and the Cavs may have to trade an unhappy superstar. The owner's comments suggest he intends to get a better return for Irving if it comes to that.