GREGG DOYEL

Doyel: Pacers have best Paul George yet ... for now

Gregg Doyel
gregg.doyel@indystar.com
The Indiana Pacers Paul George, No. 13, poses for photos on Media Day at Bankers life Fieldhouse, Monday September 26th, 2016.

INDIANAPOLIS – Paul George has all the juice now, all the power in an NBA franchise that needs him more than he needs it.

This time a year ago, Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird was sneering about George’s assertion that he wouldn’t play power forward in the Pacers’ smaller lineup, saying of George: “He don’t make the decisions around here.”

One year later, after discovering that Paul George does in fact make the decisions around here, Bird didn’t appear Monday at Pacers media day. But he did talk about George last week to IndyStar’s Nate Taylor, and Bird was not sneering. Hat in hand, Bird said the Pacers want to re-sign their best player since Reggie Miller, but acknowledged they have no say in the matter.

“We do whatever he wants to do,” Bird said. “He’s our best player. If he wants a new contract, whenever he wants it, we’ll give it to him.”’

Whatever he wants, we’ll give it to him …

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Paul George’s desires have changed. Used to be, he wanted the biggest contract he could get, and he wanted to be known as a star. He got both, signing a max contract with the Pacers before the 2013-14 season and soon thereafter receiving — earning — the respect that goes with it.

Now what Paul George wants is to win. He wants to win now, which means he wants to win here. Whether winning here would be enough to keep him in Indianapolis when his contract expires after the 2017-18 season, only he knows. His max contract value will rise after this season  — and will reach its richest amount only if he re-signs here — but George shooed away the topic on Monday, making no promises.

“Right now it’s all about the season,” George said. “I’m not even thinking about contract stuff. New group, new opportunity, fresh start. Unbelievable talent. (My) heart and soul is going into this season. Contract-wise, that’ll happen.”

Insider: Nate McMillan sets bar high for Pacers

George is smart and politically savvy, but he has never been able to hide his true thoughts. And he didn’t hide them on Monday, either, when he closed his news conference with an unintentionally ominous sound bite:

“While I’m here,” George said, “that’s definitely No. 1 on my list: Always being competitive.”

While I’m here …

It sounds serious — it is serious — but it’s not hopeless. George won a gold medal this summer in Rio and liked how it felt, but says it’s not enough: He wants an NBA championship. And he seems to think the 2016-17 Pacers have a chance.

“I don’t want to jump the gun and say this is the best team I’ve ever been on,” he said, “but it could shape up to be.”

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Indeed, Bird won the offseason by acquiring the best point guard (Jeff Teague from Atlanta) and small-ball power forward (Thaddeus Young from Brooklyn) that Paul George has ever had. Bird also strengthened the second unit by adding point guard Aaron Brooks and center Al Jefferson. All of that came after he replaced six-year coach Frank Vogel with Vogel’s lead assistant, Nate McMillan, who went 478-452 from 2000-12 as coach of Seattle and Portland.

McMillan said Monday his first goal is to win the Central Division, no small task considering the defending Central champion also won the NBA championship: Cleveland. McMillan has never been known as a player’s coach, and in fact players in Seattle called him “drill sergeant” behind his back. When I prefaced a question with that nickname, McMillan chuckled softly.

“Yeah,” he said. “I heard that.”

Well? Will you be a drill sergeant here?

“I was who I needed to be at that time,” McMillan said, citing his young rosters in Portland and Seattle. “This is a different team, a veteran team. We’ve got a lot of guys in their prime. I’m hoping we have a lot of hungry guys.”

He knows he has one of the best players in the NBA in Paul George, a perennial top-15 player but never a serious MVP candidate. That’s a small group featuring LeBron James, Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard.

Are you, I asked Paul George, ready to join that group?

Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) shares a laugh with other teammates as Indiana Pacers guard Jeff Teague (44) takes the floor during media day at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sept. 25, 2016.

“I personally thought I was in that group,” he said, smiling and teasing. “Excuse you for not being on that same page.”

Then he turned serious.

“I’ve always challenged myself and wanted to be part of the best,” he said. “I’ve always seen myself as that next-level talent, and I think this is really my first opportunity to prove that I’m ready for the task of being that for-sure best player on the court every night.”

George was that guy in the Pacers’ first-round 2016 playoff series with Toronto, featuring All-Stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Lowry joined George on the All-NBA third team last season and finished 10th in MVP balloting; George received no votes. But George clearly — for sure — was the best player on the court, averaging 27.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals. He shot 45.5 percent from the floor, 41.9 percent on 3-pointers and 95.3 percent on free throws.

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Each of those numbers eclipsed his regular season production, and 2015-16 was the best season of his career. Over a full season, his seven-game 2016 playoff numbers are MVP numbers.

But is it unfair, I asked McMillan, to expect George to play at that level for 82 games?

“No,” he said.

George was asked the same question, only in the affirmative: Is it reasonable to expect you to play that well for a full season?

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, it is.”

Not just a better player, George wants to be a better leader. McMillan told him he has to be that, for the Pacers to succeed. George said he was up to the task, and already is starting to prove it. Told by McMillan he didn’t have to take the team’s conditioning test when training camp opens Tuesday —  by virtue of his vigorous offseason at the Olympics —  George refused to accept.

“I’m not excited about it,” George said, “but how can I get on my teammates if I’m not on the line?”

George also said he’d play power forward this season if asked, and has told the starting backcourt of Jeff Teague and Monta Ellis — neither of whom is a pass-first guard — not to worry about getting him touches. Do your thing, he told Teague and Ellis.

“I’ll find my ways,” George said. “I’ll fit in. I’m not worried about my game. I just need those two attacking every night.”

For years the Pacers have belonged to Paul George. For the first time, those may just be the best possible hands.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at@GreggDoyelStar or atwww.facebook.com/gregg.doyel