Kaufman: Celtics working on a deal for Paul George with extension in place


If you thought the trade rumor frenzy was a over after the draft, you were wrong. Jimmy Butler got traded last night, and it sure seems like the New York Knicks weren't very serious about moving on from Kristaps Porzingis based on the price they were reported to be asking for in return; however, Paul George is still out there and very available based on the comments last night from Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard's comments during the draft last night about the situation with his star player:

\


George making it known that he will not resign in Indiana certainly puts them in an awful spot to receive pennies on the dollar in any trade for the 27-year old superstar. A lot of the concern around Boston about a potential deal with the Pacers stems from comments made by George's agent last week that he wanted to be traded and his preferred destination would be the Lakers in Los Angeles, which is where most people expect him to end up via free-agency at the end of the upcoming season, but Adam Kaufman has reported that the Celtics and Pacers may be working on a deal for George with a 3-year contract extension in tow:


Certainly there's a lot of moving parts there, with it being contingent on the Celtics also landing the best free-agent available come July, but you'd have to think that the Celtics would still have a ton of leverage and be able to acquire George at a relative discount.

Danny Ainge was on 98.5 the Sports Hub this morning and noted that things certainly open up for the Celtics on the trade market as soon as free-agency begins:


Do we really have to wait a whole week?!

I was into making a deal for George without an extension in place if we got Hayward because I couldn't imagine him wanted to leave a 60-win team just to go play in LA, but with an extension in place??
SIGN ME UP!


Related: Chicago Bulls agree to trade Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves

Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkAL401


Share