The Washington Wizards have joined the Paul George chase, with star John Wall trying to convince the Indiana Pacers star to join the team. Wall told Marc Spears of the Undefeated that he got in touch with George, who earlier informed the Pacers that he will not sign a contract extension after this coming season.
According to Wall, he’s trying to convince George to push the Pacers to trade him to the wizards. Spears said the Wizards have initiated trade talks with the Pacers but no deal is close at the moment.
Wall believes that George is the final piece the Wizards need to fully contend in the Eastern Conference and match or surpass LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in terms of firepower.
"We have the point guard, we have the shooting guard, we have the center, we have the power forward,” said Wall, who has Bradley Beal as a backcourt mate.
Unknown to many, Wall and George developed a close bond during the 2010 NBA Draft. Wall was taken first overall by the Wizards while George was picked 10th by the Pacers that night. Wall and George both went on to become the new face of their respective teams.
Otto Porter as trade bait?
The Wizards can use restricted free agent-to-be Otto Porter in trade talks with the Pacers. Last season, Porter emerged as one of the Wizards’ scoring threats, averaging 13.4 points and 6.4 rebounds, both career-highs, in 80 games, to go with 51.6 percent shooting from the field and 43.4 percent from beyond the arc.
According to reports, several teams are already poised to pursue Porter via offer sheets when free agency officially begins next month. He can get a maximum contract worth up to $128.2 million, which the Wizards could match, but it would put them in a financial bind in the future. The New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets both want to shore up their outside shooting and Porter is on top of their free-agent list.
Wizards extend qualifying offer to Porter, Bojan Bogdanovic
The Wizards have already extended qualifying offers to Porter and Bojan Bogdanovic, officially making them both restricted free agents. Bogdanovic averaged 12.7 points a game in 27 games for the Wizards after he was traded from the Brooklyn Nets. If they sign the qualifying offers, Porter and Bogdanovic will earn $7.7 million and $4.4 million, respectively. But both are expected not to, as they stand to get better offers from the free agent market, especially Porter, whose outside shooting can attract huge offers from other squads.
