NBA Trade Rumors 2017: 3 players the Washington Wizards should target

3. Paul George

The four-time NBA All-Star of the Indiana Pacers Paul George has been linked to several NBA trade rumors as of late.

However, a report Tuesday from Ramona Shelburne of ESPN may indicate that the Pacers are looking to add pieces to get some help for their superstar rather than trade him.

Nonetheless, as we all this weekend with Cousins, we all know that anything can happen during the NBA trade deadline, so let’s continue on with how George would help the Wizards.

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George has the rare ability to opt out of his deal with the Pacers at the end of next season. The problem is, the Pacers don’t have the right pieces in place around George to help deliver Indiana with their first NBA championship.

The Pacers attempted to formulate a championship cast this past offseason when the team acquired Thaddeus Young in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets and added All-Star point guard Jeff Teague as part of a 3-team trade. However, the Pacers are just barely hovering over .500 at 29-28 and went into the All-Star break on a season-high six game losing streak.

For a deal to work between the Wizards and Pacers, I’ve applied RealGM Trade Checker to generate a successful trade scenario. Here’s what I came up with when working out a deal that sends PG-13 to the Wizards:

Here’s what I came up with when working out a deal that sends PG-13 to the Wizards:

In this trade scenario, the Pacers, who rank 27th in rebounds and 21st defensive ranked team in the NBA, get a much needed big man in Mahinmi to help bolster their frontcourt. Not to mention, Pacers’ Thaddeus Young has the lowest points average at 11.5 points per game since his rookie year in 2007-08. Throw in an underperforming Satoransky, and you get a successful and verified trade scenario.

After adding George, the RealGM Trade Checker calculates a change in the Wizards’ outlook of +16.9 PPG, +1.9 RPG, and +1.5 APG.