NBA trade rumors: Celtics, Lakers willing to pay in trade for Paul George

The NBA season is just over a month away from kicking off, and the perpetual rumor mill continues to churn.

The latest round of gossip involves Pacers Paul George, a budding superstar who is coming off a 23.1 points per gameseason (with sevenrebounds, 4.1 assists per game and 1.9 steals per game to boot).

After the departure of coach Frank Vogel, whose contract was not renewed, it looks like Indiana is planning to rebuild. And in order to rebuild they’ll need two things: draft picks and youth.

The Celtics are a team that can offer the first part, draft picks, and according to FanSided, Boston is interested in swapping some picks, including the No. 1 they have from Brooklyn, for the star. It’s an interestthey’ve reportedly had for quite a while.

Indiana’s Larry Bird and Boston’s Danny Ainge are obviously close, having both won championships with the Celtics and the avenue for talks is always open between the pair.

As for youth, ateam that can offer that is the Lakers — for whom George would reportedly love to play as he grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant. Several outlets have reported since May that the Lakers would be willing to offer Brandon Ingram or DeAngelo Russell for George, a superstar who could jumpstart L.A. back to relevancy.

The Kevin Durant-less Thunder are a third team being thrown out as a possible landing spot for George — who is under contract until the end of the 2018-19 season.