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NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Paul George and Nick Young
December 22, 2016
While people all over the country begin to take some time off for the holidays, the internet continues to remind us that there is no vacation for the NBA's trade rumor mill.
This week brought us fresh nuggets on a couple of wings who've been in rumors before now—and the new information makes it sound like they may not be headed anywhere soon.
The Indiana Pacers' Paul George would net a huge return, but the organization doesn't appear ready to make a move. Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Lakers' Nick Young may not bring much back, despite his resurgence this season.
Pacers Willing to Move Paul George?
The Pacers underwent a bit of an overhaul this past offseason, moving George Hill to the Utah Jazz and bringing in Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young in an effort to play a faster brand of basketball.
Results have been up and down, but Indiana is currently .500 and sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. It needs more time to see whether the changes, including the coaching switch from Frank Vogel to Nate McMillan, were good ones.
That hasn't stopped speculation regarding George, the Pacers' biggest star. In an episode of The Vertical Podcast with Woj, Adrian Wojnarowski addressed the rumors (h/t NBC Sports' Dan Feldman).
"I know teams have been calling Indiana, and they're going to ask about Paul George," Wojnarowski said. "And the answer is, 'Absolutely, positively no. He is not available. There is no conversation to be had. Don't even make offers to us. We're not moving Paul George.'"
Indiana not entertaining offers on George makes sense. It seems like he's been in the league forever, but he's still just 26 years old. That gives him at least five or six more seasons of prime basketball.
Even if the Pacers wanted a complete rebuild, there's no reason to move a proven superstar in his mid-20s.
Can the Lakers Unload Nick Young?
The arrival of head coach Luke Walton and subsequent evolution of Young from Swaggy P to Uncle P has the once-maligned wing playing the best basketball of his career.
This season, Young is posting career highs in player efficiency rating, box plus/minus, value over replacement player and true shooting percentage, per Basketball-Reference.com. In short, every metric says this is the best version of Young we've ever seen.
Even still, Young may not have much value on the trade market, per Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders:
The is a blanket statement on the Lakers. They look at the marketplace constantly, but as a team they are trying to build a good solid culture for the young guys and they are extremely reluctant to mess with that.
Its possible Nick is traded, but having talked to teams about Nick Young specifically, he does not have a lot of fans. It's more likely than not he plays out his deal in LA, mostly because there is no market for him and the Lakers don't see open to trade or changes.
It's hard to imagine all 29 teams maintaining this stance if Young continues to play the way he is into February.
Among players qualified for the three-point percentage leaderboard, Young is ninth in true shooting percentage, per Basketball-Reference.com. That's the kind of shooting a contender could use off the bench, especially if it has veterans who can help Young maintain his new identity as Uncle P.