Latest On Paul George

12:12pm: “More than a few” rival teams believe the Celtics have a real shot to land George today, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein (Twitter link). However, Wojnarowski tweets that the C’s have no significant traction yet on either George or Jimmy Butler.

10:43am: On the heels of his last George update, Wojnarowski has issued another one, tweeting that the Celtics have now introduced a Nets pick into the discussion. ESPN’s Zach Lowe notes that it’s the 2017 first-rounder (Twitter link). However, Boston has yet to meet the Pacers’ asking price.

10:35am: The Pacers and Celtics had preliminary talks regarding George, but those discussions won’t move forward unless – or until – the C’s put the Nets’ pick on the table, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). Wojnarowski doesn’t specify which of the Nets’ picks he’s referring to, but I’d imagine the 2017 first-rounder would be the Pacers’ preference.

10:00am: The Pacers have shown a willingness this week to listen to inquiries on Paul George, but Indiana’s asking price on the star forward is “off the charts,” tweets Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. A league source who spoke to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders echoed that sentiment, suggesting that George would be “massively expensive” to obtain. That source said that his own team didn’t have anywhere close to the assets to pursue such a deal.

[RELATED: Lakers inquired on Paul George]

Outside of the fact that it would take a huge package to pry George away from the Pacers, potential suitors will be apprehensive about making a deal because they know that he wants to win in Indiana, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. As Haynes explains, George’s top preference would be to ultimately re-up with the Pacers, while the Lakers would be his Plan B. The All-Star forward wouldn’t be willing to commit long-term to a team besides those two.

Meanwhile, as has been previously reported, a recent meeting between George and Pacers owner Herb Simon prompted Indiana to more seriously consider all of its options with PG13, since he indicated during that meeting that he wants to stay with the Pacers for the long term only if the team can be a serious contender. Haynes tweets that the meeting between George and Simon was “cordial,” with no ultimatum given.

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