While Paul George’s tenure with the Oklahoma City Thunder is wrapped with uncertainty, teams with interest in the dynamic All-Star forward – other than the Los Angeles Lakers – are slowly starting to show up. There are logical reasons why the Lakers are viewed as the No. 1 landing spot for George in the event he leaves the Thunder after this season. By choosing his home team, the Los Angeles native can get the full max and the platform to lead one of the NBA’s glamour franchises.

The Lakers are the frontrunners in the Paul George sweepstakes. There’s no mistake about that.

However, there’s always a chance for other teams to swing momentum in their favor with one great recruiting pitch.

For that, here are the two "sleeper" teams for Paul George in next year’s free agency.

Philadelphia 76ers

George just witnessed how “the Process” has transformed the Philadelphia 76ers into a competitive team this season after OKC’s triple-overtime road win in Philly. The scary part about these young Sixers, is they haven’t reached their ceiling. Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Markelle Fultz are mere young pups and the addition of an established star would put them in position to create a dynasty in the East.

The Sixers currently have no room for a max contract, though they can create one by dumping Jerryd Bayless’ expiring deal ($9MM salary for 2018-19 NBA season).

Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo and the previous administration have collected enough future second-rounders to use as a handy trade sweetener in case of a salary dump. Of course, LeBron James is the big fish the Sixers really want to catch. However, they are also expected to go hard at George and other top-tier free agents.

Chicago Bulls

Despite their decision to start rebuilding by trading Jimmy Butler to the Wolves, Chicago is still feeling bullish about their future. Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen are looking like future cornerstones, and Zach LaVine has 40+ games left to prove that he too has a place with the Bulls. There’s even a strong possibility that the Bulls will be ready to compete for a playoff spot next season.

All the franchise needs is a strong offseason to put them back in contention.

The Bulls are young and full of promise, just like the Sixers and the Lakers. Unlike the latter, Chicago has an easy route toward creating room for two max players. Nikola Mirotic and Robin Lopez are both movable parts, as both are still producing at a high level, which is not the case in Luol Deng’s situation with the Lakers. Who knows, the Bulls might pull off something huge next summer. Perhaps they can swing a trade for an All-Star and then add George. One thing is certain; the Bulls have the money to do that.

The Bulls, Sixers, and Lakers are just a short list of potential suitors for George. It is expected that there will be more teams kicking the tires on possibly adding the two-way star as he becomes available. Of course, the deal-breaker is if he decides to exercise his player option on the final year of his contract, giving the Thunder another year to convince George of staying in OKC for more years.
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