Despite reports that indicated the Cleveland Cavaliers were out of the Paul George sweepstakes, the Eastern Conference champs aren’t giving up just yet.
ESPN’s Marc Stein reports the Cavaliers are still very much trying to land George. Per Stein, they’re attempting to get the Denver Nuggets involved as a third team in a potential trade with the Indiana Pacers that would send Kevin Love to Denver.
League sources: Cavs, Pacers and Nuggets have discussed a three-way deal that would land Paul George in Cleveland and Kevin Love in Denver
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 25, 2017
It’s unclear what the Pacers would gain in the exchange, but the Cavaliers are apparently dead set on exhausting every resource at their fingertips to land George. They already lost out on the chance to land Jimmy Butler, who may have actually been a better fit overall.
One thing we know for certain is that Cleveland needs to do something to shake things up. They were thoroughly outplayed against the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals, and the only victory claimed in that series occurred because LeBron James was simply unstoppable.
Landing George would potentially be an improvement to what the Cavaliers already have, but would he really give them that much more than Love? That’s a question that they apparently hope to answer in the coming season. A season that would be a one-year rental, by most accounts, because George is reportedly dead set on joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018.