Same reason 30 other teams didn't. They don't like D'Angelo. Teams serious about winning are afraid of him.
Pacers didn't want Russell. Apparently preferred a high first round pick. That's how low his value was at this point.
Guys, it's not that the Pacers didn't want D-Lo. It's that they didn't want D-Lo plus Deng/Mozgov. If we traded D-Lo without Mozgov, surely you get more for him than what we got in the Brooklyn Nets package. But since we attached Mozgov, that is why the value wasn't even close to what we thought we'd get for him. If our deal was just D-Lo and Randle for PG13, it would have happened by now.
Nance to the rescue! Question, can we use the Brook Lopez contract to get George? Is there a rule against that? Maybe we send it, Randle and the picks for George and a smaller expiring contract from Indy?
I would just counter with the fact that drafting and building with your youth can work, look at the Warriors (excluding KD). All their main players (Steph, Klay, Draymond) + Harrison Barnes were draft picks. Yes they made important trade for Bogut and signed KD, but I'm just saying building through youth at this time with GSW the way they are currently constructed is vital given the timeline.