Paul George: Pacers' refusal to add 'the best power forward' prompted exit

Paul George says a number of factors led to his departure from the Indiana Pacers in the summer of 2017, but the tipping point came when they refused to pursue a marquee player who was eager to join forces with George.

"I ain't gonna say the names, because I'mma keep (their) business private, I'mma just say it like this: I had - at the time - the best power forward saying he wanted to come to Indy and team up with me," George said during Tuesday's episode of The Players' Tribune's "Knuckleheads with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles" podcast.

"(The front office is) like, 'We're a mid-major. We're a small market. We can't do it, we're a small market, we can't afford that.' I'm like, 'The best power forward wants to come play here, like, y'all can't make that work?' They didn't wanna do it."

After refusing to act on George's wishes, Pacers management approached their franchise star with less desirable targets, prompting him to ask his agent to request a trade.

"Now I'm pissed cause it's like, 'What am I doing here?' You know what I mean? 'They don't want to win,'" George said. "I've got the best power forward that wants to come play here. Not everybody chooses Indy to come play at. This dude wanted to come play here. They didn't wanna do it."

This isn't the first time the 30-year-old has thrown shade at the organization that drafted him 10th overall in 2010. Following his most recent visit to his old stomping grounds in December, George told reporters he wasn't "the one to boo" and teased a "tell-all" surrounding his unceremonious departure from Indiana.

The Pacers ultimately got good value for George, acquiring future All-Stars Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.