Earlier today, The Vertical dropped the Woj bomb to end all Woj bombs on Indiana: Paul George has told the Pacers organization that he intends to leave after next season and wants to go to the Lakers.

Woj is also reporting that Pacers newly promoted president Kevin Pritchard is already looking for trade partners outside of the Lakers.

The Lakers are reportedly not interested in giving up any young assets to acquire George, understandably since they know he’s coming their way next season at no cost to them beyond the cost of his contract.

Pritchard may be trying to build up offers from other teams before speaking with LA with no leverage of other potential deals. One of the teams that Woj is reporting that the Pacers have spoken with is the Cleveland Cavaliers. No word on what the Cavs are offering at this point.

Pritchard is in a near impossible situation, but he knows at this point he has to find a trade for George, whatever the best deal may be. The Pacers faithful will not be anxious to attend games this season to watch a future Laker compete for a Pacers team that he no longer has in his future plans. It’s hard to imagine that the Pacers locker room will be a joyous place to be around all season with a star that has already started walking out on them before the season has even begun.

It’ll be interesting to see what teams are willing to make an offer and for how much for one-year of a superstar. The Nuggets and the Hawks reportedly make deadline offers but they may be much less inclined to make an offer now and are very unlikely to give up the same amount of players and assets that they originally offered in February.

Nate Taylor of the Indy Star reports that the Pacers heard the news from George’s agent yesterday and it was a complete surprise. The Pacers were fully expecting to build around George this season, but now they have no set direction just a few days before the draft.