Paul George Remains With Pacers

3:32pm: According to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter), Larry Bird was “determined to swat away all pitches” for George this week, even though team ownership felt that it was necessary to hear out potential suitors.

1:49pm: The Pacers have passed on trade offers for Paul George, and the All-Star forward will remain with the team through the trade deadline, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter).

After insisting for most of the season that George was unavailable, the Pacers wavered on that stance in recent days, after PG13 met with owner Herb Simon. In that meeting, George expressed a desire to remain with Indiana for the long term, but only if the Pacers are in a position to be a legit contender.

There’s a belief that George is very interested in the possibility of signing with the Lakers when he’s eligible for free agency in 2018, so Indiana felt obligated to explore the market and consider the possibility of a rebuild around Myles Turner. For now, George remains in Indiana, though it’s possible the team will consider a trade again in the summer.

With the Pacers listening to inquiries on George this week, the Lakers and Celtics reportedly talked to Indiana, while the Nuggets are believed to have made a “monster” offer that the Pacers turned down.

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