Photo Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Hawks Offered Pacers 4 (FOUR) First Round Picks For Paul George

Paul George not making an All-NBA Team, and telling the Pacers he will leave the team during his 2018 free agency, has made him the subject of endless trade discussions. But these discussions are still only rumors, even though it seems likely that the Pacers will indeed be trading him this summer.

What apparently is not a rumor, is the fact the the Atlanta Hawks tried to trade for Paul George before the trade deadline in February. The Hawks even planned to go overboard, offering 4!!!! first round picks in order to bring PG13 to Atlanta.

The Pacers did not take the deal, but I’m almost sure that if the Hawks, or any team, were to offer such deal now, the Pacers would take it within a blink of an eye.

It seems like the Hawks were close to becoming the next Brookly Nets. At least the Hawks own two first-round picks acquired through trades. The Minnesota Timberwolves (lottery protected as early as 2018) and Cleveland Cavaliers (top-10 protected as early as 2019) picks.

The Atlanta Hawks made aggressive draft pick-centric trade offers for Paul George and Jimmy Butler today, league sources tell ESPN.

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) February 23, 2017