Just today, the American media BR (Bleachers) released a trade proposal, they suggested that the Lakers and Clippers complete a seven-man trade, and the Lakers sent four people plus a first-round pick to get George and Tucker from the Clippers. The specific plan given by BR is: The Lakers send Hachimura, Rivers, Russell, annoying Bildt and a 2024/2025 first-round pick to get Paul George and PJ Tucker from the Clippers. The main reason why BR gave this big trade plan is that the Lakers have entered the end of the championship window in the James era, and they must bring in a big third to partner with the James Mei combination and strive to win another championship.
George has a player option in his hand this year, as does PJ Tucker. Just earlier, PJ Tucker had confirmed that he would exercise his $11.54 million player option for the final year of next season. Although Tucker's current value is not high, he can't afford to live with the money, and exercising the $11.54 million player option is definitely the right decision for himself. Well, it's a burden for the Clippers, and they need to send it away. The Lakers could accept Tucker first, then cut him or negotiate a buyout with him, which would maximize the salary structure.
As for George, who has a $48.8 million player option in his hands this year, he has a lot of options to operate this summer. In the middle of the season, George negotiated a contract extension with the Clippers, but the negotiations did not go well. In the context of Leonard's contract extension of 153 million three years ahead of schedule but he could not play, the contract extension between George and Harden has not been finalized, which has brought insecurity to George. Some people believe that George's sluggish performance in the playoffs this year has a lot to do with his lack of contract.
Therefore, if the Lakers can poach George at this time, and then offer him a 3-year or even 4-year contract with a maximum salary, relieve George's worries, and let him jump out of the $48.8 million player option next season, the starting salary of the next contract will not be so high, and you can save a little more, in this way, the Lakers' Big Three will be very stable. The Lakers reached a three-year contract extension with a maximum salary of 186 million with Brother Thick Eyebrows last summer, and the cooperation between the two sides will be until 2028, so Brother Thick Eyebrows is undoubtedly the future leader of the Lakers. As for James, he also has a lot of options this summer, and now the news shows that the Lakers don't want to miss this cash cow, and they are willing to choose Bronny to help James fulfill the desire of father and son on the same stage, and at the same time, they are also willing to strengthen the third big man for the Lakers.
Therefore, on the whole, it will be a good choice for the Lakers to poach George and build the Big Three, George's ability has not declined much, and the downturn this season has a lot to do with the time node. Moreover, George plays next to Leonard and Harden, he has adapted to how to be the team's three-in-command, as a model of the league's top 3-and-D players, George should still have 2-3 years of peak, that is, before James retires, George can assist James together, and they have every hope of following the example of the Celtics in 2008, with three veterans leading the team and winning the championship at the end of their careers.
So for the Clippers, do they have a trade motive, apparently yes. Rivers is a reliable guard, Mr. Key, a big-hearted player, Russell is much more mature, he was very useful during the regular season, and he can withstand it in the playoffs now, in addition, Hachimura is the third person on the team for the Lakers to reach the Western Conference Finals in 2023, and his ability is still good, Vanderbilt is a strengthened version of Robertson, and Harden and Westbrook can activate it. If the Lakers send another first-round pick, then the Clippers have no reason to refuse such a generous gift. Even if the Clippers don't like it, they can try the next step, and in the free market, these are very good trade chips.