Now that Kobe Bryant is retired and his gargantuan salary is off the books, the Los Angeles Lakers are set to begin a new era as a franchise. The Lakers have a solid core in place made up of youngsters D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle, and the right head coach at the helm after making a brilliant decision to hire Luke Walton. But they desperately lack star power and veteran leadership.

The Lakers have been linked to essentially every potential 2016 free agent (other than Dwight Howard, of course), but there’s nothing written in stone that says they will be able to land one. Toronto Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan makes plenty of sense, and the Compton native is reportedly interested in playing in his home city. But the Raptors can pay him more money than Los Angeles can, so he’s far from a guarantee despite being a perfect fit.

Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant is the most coveted free agent of the class, but it has been rumored that if he is going to leave the Thunder, he wants to land on a team that could make an immediate NBA Championship run. Obviously, that isn’t going to happen with the Lakers barring something completely unforeseen like LeBron James randomly taking his talents to Hollywood.

Thus, the Lakers are in a tough spot and have no choice but to get incredibly creative in efforts to improve their roster over the next four months.

Insert Indiana Pacers forward Paul George.

Also hearing that the Lakers want to make a BIG run at Paul George with their top-3 pick plus other stuff. (Not that they’d get him…)

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 4, 2016

According to Bill Simmons, the Lakers could offer the Pacers a package that starts with Russell and their top-three pick in the 2016 draft.

If the Lakers offered Indy their top-3 pick plus Russell for PG13… I mean… I don’t think Indy says yes but it’s def a meeting.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 4, 2016

As Simmons mentioned, Russell and a top-three pick likely isn’t going to be enough to get a deal for George done, but it undoubtedly would get Larry Bird on the phone. George is signed through the 2018-19 season, but at that point, it’s fair to assume he’ll be looking to chase the ring that he hasn’t been able to win in Indiana. Especially considering that by then, the NBA salary cap will have risen so high, the difference between what Indiana can offer him as opposed to a new team won’t be enough to prevent him from leaving.

Losing Russell isn’t ideal, but Clarkson could slide back over to the point and Lou Williams could start at the two in this scenario. Let’s hypothetically say the Lakers also added Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford this summer. A starting five of Clarkson, Williams, George, Randle and Horford would likely get the Lakers back to the playoffs, if nothing else.