Free agent/trade speculation “mentally drained” Paul George last season

Paul George says he was “mentally drained” last season over the free agency and trade speculation.

Paul George said he was mentally drained at all the speculation of being traded away from the Indiana Pacers early this season.

Almost every team reached out to the Pacers to see if they could possibly swing a deal for George at the trading deadline, and he says the talk about his status was exhausting.

“Last season I was mentally drained by it all,” George says to SI.com's Lee Jenkins. “As much as you try not to hear anything, it gets to you, and it’s a different kind of exhaustion. Game 60 felt like Game 100. I was running into the wall.”

George let the Pacers brass know that he was going to explore free agency after the 2017–18 season, so on June 30, the Pacers sent him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for guard Victor Oladipo and power forward Domantas Sabonis.