Paul George Reveals He Almost Joined Pacers Rival to Form Big Three

The 2024-25 Indiana Pacers finally seem to be in a good place this year.

Following a 10-15 season start, Indiana has gone 14-4 in its intervening 18 contests, and is now the Eastern Conference's No. 5 seed with a 24-19 record for 2024-25. All-NBA power forward Pascal Siakam is looking like the Pacers' best bet to make the All-Star team this season, although All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton has recently stabilized his game a bit after looking fairly patchy.

A previous Pacers superstar, nine-time All-Star Paul George, revealed on his show "Podcast P with Paul George" how he almost ditched Indiana for a Central Division nemesis, before ultimately ditching the team for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the blockbuster trade that sent eventual All-Stars Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

George spoke with his now-Philadelphia 76ers teammate Andre Drummond about how Drummond and another eventual teammate of George's, point guard Reggie Jackson, both reached out to him on social media about joining them on the Detroit Pistons.

How Andre Drummond & Reggie Jackson almost convinced PG to join the Pistons 👀 @PrizePicks pic.twitter.com/NgiQXxRuuJ
— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) January 20, 2025

"Didn't I DM you one year to come to Detroit?" Drummond asked.

"You did, you and Reg," George answered.

Drummond was a monster in the paint during his Pistons prime, making two All-Star teams. Jackson, after years of languishing as a backup on the Oklahoma City Thunder, was finally a starter in Detroit, and putting up solid if not All-Star numbers.

"I was like, 'This man ain't coming to no damn Detroit,'" Drummond joked.

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George, meanwhile, was in his athletic prime with the Pacers, too. He remained an All-Star for years with the Thunder and L.A. Clippers, but at age 34 has regressed to being a decent starter for Philadelphia. In a vacuum, that's fine, but as a guy earning $211.6 million in the first year of a maximum deal, that's a problem for the 15-26 76ers, losers of six straight.

"I actually was thinking about it just because obviously Reg reached out, you reached out and, you know, I'm like, 'That might be a solid three stars right there,'" George said.

Drummond and Jackson were on the Pistons together from 2015-2020. The Pistons went to the playoffs just twice during their five years together.

George was traded away from the Pacers in 2017, so presumably the outreach happened in that 2015-17 window.

“Man, we could’ve did something special,” Drummond said wistfully.

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"The only thing, I was like, 'Ah, I live in Indiana, I'm trying to get out of this cold. I'm not trying to leave cold to go cold again,'" George said.

This makes sense for George. The 6-foot-8 pro is native of Palmdale, California — a desert community about 65 miles northeast of the L.A. Clippers' George-era homecourt of Crypto.com.

"No I feel you," Drummond responded.

Again, both players now live in the always-sunny confines of... Philadelphia, a team they willingly joined in free agency this past offseason.

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