Paul George not excited about his new role for Pacers

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

After everything Paul George has been through the past 14 months, the notion of him playing out of position is, by comparison, the smallest of matters.

But not long after Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel made it official that his fully-recovered All-Star will play the power forward spot this season in an attempt to play “small-ball,” the 25-year-old who missed all but six games last season after breaking his leg at Team USA minicamp last August made it clear yet again in an interview with USA TODAY Sports that he’s hardly excited about the development.

“Um, you know it’s, uh, I was open for – to try it out,” George said via phone while promoting his place on the cover of the NBA 2K16 mobile app. “It’s definitely a change. It’s something new. We’ll see how it goes. As the season goes, it might be better for me to just be at my regular position. But I told them I was open to the situation and (we’ll) see where it goes.”

It’s quite predictable, not to mention fair, that George has concerns about the decision. Defending power forwards is inherently more taxing than guarding small forwards, especially when you’re playing the position as a 6-foot-9, 220-pounder who will be undersized on many nights.

From the Pacers’ perspective, team president Larry Bird made it clear earlier this summer that he believes George’s offense will be aided by this move and that the defensive side of the ball won’t be nearly as daunting as some believe. His goal, as he told reporters in Indiana recently, is to score an additional six or eight points per game.

“Yeah, I believe (that’s his main concern),” George said. “It’s just being outmatched strength-wise with guys at the four spot is really the only concern. It’s not really the concern for one game. It’s the concern just over the course of a season just how my body would take it, especially coming off the injury that I had and a whole year of rehabbing. Just not sure of how it’s going to take it. (We’ll) start camp, see how camp goes. Again, I’m not too thrilled on it, but it could change the more comfortable I get at the position. But we’ll see. But again, I could very much end up loving it, so it’s all up in the air. I’m open to the position.”