history of trading away promising young talent, which led to his disagreement with Tampa brass over the Alfonso Soriano deal. Cashman denies reports that say he opposed the trade but admits that he opposed the timing of it. He believes that if they waited until they got closer to Aug. 31st deadline, the Cubs would have taken a lesser prospect than pitcher Corey Black.

One rival executive expects the Giants to make a play for a Cuban free agent like Jose Dariel Abreu or second baseman Alexander Guerrero. The exec believes that the Giants have seen the impact of Cuban players Yasiel Puig and Yoenis Cespedes right in their own backyard and will look to join in this winter. It also helps that San Francisco is in need ofthe Indiana Pacers that he wasn’t going to re-sign with them in 2018. The Los Angeles native has long been thought destined for the Lakers.

But the clarity provided allows the Pacers to see how much of an auction they can create for George, even as a one-year rental.

Almost instantly came news that the Cleveland Cavaliers were in on the bidding, desperate to add talent to close the gap on the Golden State Warriors. At almost the same time began speculation that the reason the Celtics and 76ers had reached their agreement so early – Philadelphia is reportedly sending Boston the rights to either the Lakers’ first-round pick in 2018 or the Sacramento Kings’ first-rounder in 2019 – was so Boston would have more assets and time to pry