The Indiana Pacers just got swept in the 1st round and the rumors and speculation about the impending free agency of one Paul George are rolling. Whether @Mitch_Lawrence of SportingNews intended to or not in his run-down of why the Lakers shouldn’t be looking to Indiana as their savior the standout quote was easily that Paul George is telling everyone including his own teammates that he wants to come to the Lakers.

SoCal native, he’s been talking about playing for his hometown team, the Lakers, for a long time. He’s never made his long-term intentions a secret within the Pacers’ locker room, according to former teammates. He wants to wear the purple and gold. — Mitch Lawrence via SportingNews

George probably hasn’t told anyone about his plans, because they are very easily subject to change. He’s waiting to hear about his All-NBA status affecting how much Indiana can offer him. There’s the rest of the 2017 NBA Playoffs where teams are making their mark like the young Bucks from Milwaukee or displaying a fragility that could spell rebuild; *cough* Cli- *cough* -ppers. Excuse me. There’s still lottery balls to fall and Saiger-esque skinny suits on Draft day and all of 2017 Free Agency.

So what are the realistic options for Paul George? If not Indiana why is Los Angeles so appealing besides growing up in the urban sprawl of Lala Land? Isn’t this just the latest post-season pipe dream that will fail to pan out for the big market team out West? Shouldn’t the Lakers starting five already be Westbrook, DeRozan, LeBron James, Durant, and Whiteside making Paul George redundant? What makes this situation any different?

The makeup of the Lakers is starting to actually look ready to assimilate a star, not just because of the young talent, but optimistically their cap, and draft pick situations have improved as well.

If Paul George makes it to the 2018 Free Agency without landing on a true contender via trade the teams he’ll be looking at will have to have both talent and money to get him and not every team will.

Portland with $120M committed and five pending Restricted Free Agents would have to make a ton of moves to make room for PG13’s $30M potential salary. Right now about half the league is over-committed to squeeze in Paul George without making some significant moves. About half of the teams with space will be focussed on committing to guys they already have instead of chasing a free agent — like the Jazz re-signing Gordon Hayword or the Raptors locking in Ibaka and Lowry. The remaining teams seem to fall into two camps: future-ready, and 1-star away.

Boston seems to be straddling the two camps the widest. They’ll be picking up lottery picks from Brooklyn, bringing over two more rookies from last year’s draft, they’ve already drafted a few prospects, and they’ve got some premier veterans that are winning now.

Slotting in Paul George works from a cap perspective, and Boston will be able to figure out what’s best, trading assets and going deep into the luxury tax to make a title run with quality veterans, or holding those cards and try to create a dynasty that has Boston near the top of their conference for a decade, patiently waiting for LeDecline. Boston’s case is strong on paper but struggling in the playoffs and some wasted draft picks may put a damper on Danny Ainge’s big pitch.

The Lakers have the same profile as their Point Guard coming in to the draft. Huge ceiling and low floor. They could win the lottery, pawn one of their vets off for a few picks (Rockets ’17 1st, Denver ’18 2nd, Chicago ’19 2nd), win 40 games, and walk into 2018 Free Agency offering Paul George a chance to be the team’s next Kobe even with the promise to find him his own Pau Gasol.

They could also lose their pick to Philadelphia, struggle with their rookie roster, and find that teams won’t be willing to do them any favors to free up cap space and limp into 2018 Free Agency telling Paul George about a possible reality show or pimping Magic Johnson’s business connections way too hard.

As is tradition, the team nobody talks about, the San Antonio Spurs, are possibly the best option for Paul George.

Imagine facing Aldridge, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs. Even for the stacked Golden State Warriors those three alone would be problematic on both ends of the floor.

Doesn’t that give you the slightest tingle of Pippen and Jordan?

Of course, more typical Spurs things would happen in quick succession. Watch UNC stud Justin Jackson fall to Popovich late in the 1st, their premier bench lineup with Mills, Simmons, Jackson, get rounded out via some lopsided deal like Mirotic and a 1st for Danny Green. Finally get their backup Center for a vet minimum, how about Tyson Chandler after a buyout?

The crazy thing is the Spurs are so open in 2018 they could still afford to hand out decent deals to their free agents in Simmons and Mills, and even bring George Hill back home if Pop thinks it’ll be a few more years before Dejuante Murray can carry the team at point.

All of a sudden the Spurs could be a super-athletic defensive juggernaut with a reliable offense, star power, and actual matchup problems for the upper echelon teams like the Warriors and Cavs. The Spurs already barely trail the Warriors in the regular season, adding Paul George could push them over the top.

Any issues regarding Paul George’s leadership that are bound to make the rounds after him openly criticizing teammates after playoff losses probably disappear into the Spurs Soul Box. So many issues seem to get resolved when guys go to San Antonio, because as the saying goes, “Winning cures everything”. Paul George’s only actual quote on Free Agency so far: “I want to play on a winning team”.

Honorable mentions to land Paul George: Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, and of course staying in Indiana.