Innuendo and rumors abound in this NBA offseason

(TNS) — NBA rumor and innuendo has completely taken over my Twitter timeline. Click to refresh is turning a timeline that nominally consists of SEC news, football recruiting, WWE and the latest breaking news into a collection of whispers about possible trades and free agent pursuits.

It’s like if Varys from “Game of Thrones” had a Twitter account and instead of getting info on the political entanglements of Westeros, his little birds focused on bringing him real-time information on Paul George.

Usually tucked amid the innuendo is a take that I find fascinating. Some version of “the NBA offseason is more entertaining than this year’s NBA postseason” is bound to pop up.

I’m not going to sit here and say the recently-concluded NBA playoffs were the best ever. Watching Golden State and Cleveland crush their foes until the finals, when Golden State’s talent conquered the indomitable will of LeBron James in five games, wasn’t an easy watch. That might have been different if Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker don’t get hurt for San Antonio. They might have been able to challenge Golden State a little more in the Western Conference Finals. The same goes for an Isaiah Thomas-less Boston team against the Cavs in the Eastern Conference.

That being said, I will always be more entertained by the actual games than the silly season of rumors and free agents because, you know, there are actual games to watch. The games are, 99 percent of the time, more entertaining than the rumor mill — especially when you are watching one of the greatest NBA teams ever assembled.

The truth is, the interest in this year’s NBA offseason is so high because of the Warriors’ domination. Everyone is looking for the next “superteam” that can supplant Golden State. That’s why Paul George has suddenly become the most important person in the league.

Indiana’s star forward told the team, through his agent, that he doesn’t plan to stay with the Pacers after this season. The rumor that is closer to truth than fiction is George wants to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers when he’s a free agent. That leaves the Lakers, who have become irrelevant with just 91 wins in the last four years, in position to get a big name and talent to go with whoever they select with the No. 2 pick in today’s NBA draft.

But there are other teams who may be in the market for George. Teams that are close but don’t have enough to compete with the Warriors like Cleveland, Houston, Boston and others are no doubt considering taking a 1-year rental on George with the hopes that they can convince him to stay. So it may be in the Lakers’ interest to go ahead and acquire him to remove that possibility.

Would James, George, Kyrie Irving and whatever supporting elements can be added enough to dethrone the Warriors? Can the Cavs keep Kevin Love and also acquire George? Would a combination of James Harden and George be enough for the Rockets to challenge in the West? Will Boston give up any of its potentially lucrative draft picks for a year of George, and would it matter if he did sign with Boston? It’s fun to speculate about what may happen.

The chatter isn’t just centered on George. The Spurs are trying to find a way to lure Chris Paul to San Antonio in free agency. The Spurs gave Golden State a game — key word there is game — before being swept with a team consisting of a great player (Leonard), good but aging players (Parker, Manu Ginobili, Pau Gasol), talented but green players (Jonathon Simmons, Kyle Anderson, Dejounte Murray), young veteran players (Patty Mills, Danny Green) and whichever version of LaMarcus Aldrige showed up that night.

Is adding George’s considerable talent while subtracting some of those pieces enough to put up more resistance to Golden State next year? I don’t know, and that unknown is what makes the offseason so exciting.

Other teams are looking for respectability. Sure, Dwight Howard to Charlotte is not instantly going to make the Hornets a title contender. But a core of Howard, Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum should be enough to get the Hornets back into the playoffs. For some teams, that’s enough — especially with the Warriors running roughshod over everyone at the moment.

Paul George and the No. 2 pick won’t be enough to magically make the Lakers contenders either. But trading away the bad contract of Timofey Mozgov and talented young player D’Angelo Russell to Brooklyn for skilled, but often injured, big man Brook Lopez frees up more money in 2018. That money will help lure George, in case L.A. is unable to trade for him, but it could also be used to help lure a king to the West Coast when his contract is up next season.

If you think this offseason is fun, just wait until next year when King James could be looking for a new home for his Iron Throne.