The Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics were absolutely stunned Friday night when news broke that the Indiana Pacers had traded Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For their part, the Nuggets and Cavaliers were involved in three-team trade discussions with Indiana surrounding George when the trade was announced.
According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the Nuggets offered up a package of Gary Harris, Trey Lyles and a protected first-round pick to the Indiana Pacers. The deal would have sent Paul George to Cleveland and Kevin Love to Denver.
As it is, Indiana settled for a less-than-stellar package that’s headed by the expensive and inconsistent Victor Oladipo. The team reportedly didn’t want to move George to an Eastern Conference rival and was willing to take less to ship him out west.