Pistons Beat Undermanned Heat

Speaking on ESPN’s Get Up, Brian Windhorst said Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers could be headed for a breakup. The Clippers haven’t budged off their offer to George, and the All-Star wing doesn’t seem inclined to accept it.

Windhorst said that the focus shouldn’t just be on cap space teams for George as a free agent. Instead, he said it’s more likely that George will opt in and request a trade, if he’s leaving the Clippers this offseason. That would increase the pool of teams that could acquire the veteran wing, beyond just the handful of cap space teams this summer. The Philadelphia 76ers, who have cap space, are believed to be moving onto options beyond George. The New York Knicks could be a team with the assets to pull off a trade for George.

The Clippers also reportedly don’t believe that George wants to leave Los Angeles. They are believed to have offered a similar deal to the three-year, below-max extension worth $152 million over three seasons that Kawhi Leonard signed with the team during last season.

George is represented by Aaron Mintz of CAA.

The Los Angeles Lakers believe they need to make another trade to firm up their roster for a playoff run. That’s led Los Angeles back to discussing Russell Westbrook trades. This time, those discussions were with the Utah Jazz.

The Lakers are continuing to search around the league for a trade, or trades, that will give them the depth they need to compete for a title this season. Despite Westbrook’s improved play since moving to the bench, he’s continued to be available for trade.

Utah and Los Angeles already linked up for one deal this season. The Jazz traded Patrick Beverley to the Lakers for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson. Utah is rumored to be listening on several of their veteran players ahead of next week’s trade deadline.