George hopes to please 'majority of the people' with free-agent decision

There are about 1.5 million people in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and around 19 million in Greater Los Angeles. And with those two cities believed to be the front-runners for Paul George's services, it might be in his best interest to join the Lakers this offseason if we're to take his recent disclosure literally.

"I hope I make the majority of the people happy," George said in the first installment of the ESPN series following his offseason decision. "But ultimately it's my decision and I want to be the happiest I can be with that decision."

As of Wednesday morning, George had still not opted out of the final year of his contract with the Thunder, which would officially make him an unrestricted free agent. While he has expressed interest in returning to Oklahoma City, his hometown Lakers are expected to make a pitch when free agency begins Sunday.

Related: Lakers' reported pitch to George will play on his L.A. roots

In the series, George also credited Thunder general manager Sam Presti for gambling on a trade for him last summer when he knew he'd likely opt out. George had the finest defensive season of his NBA career, but the Thunder underachieved, losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Utah Jazz.

"Here they have made a huge risk in trading for me, knowing I have one year on my deal," he said. "But I felt I didn't finish as strong as I could have. Just knowing that you left something on the table, even to this point now, it weighs on me."