Paul George was asked on Friday if he wants to have Lance Stephenson return to the Indiana Pacers next season.

"I don't know," George said after a long pause. "That's for Larry (Bird), Kevin (Pritchard), for them to decide. It would be great. We came into this league together. It would be great for us to continue our journey together.

"But he's played a huge (role) this whole season and in this postseason. So it's definitely put pressure on us to make decisions going forward with Lance."

David West took a more decisive position.

"I think so, I hope so," said David West. "He's a huge part of the progress that we made. He's a great young talent. He fits with this group so hopefully we get him back."

"In our eyes (right now), Lance is still here, still a part of this organization," George Hill said. "We love Lance as a teammate and we hope that the organization brings him back with this group. He's a big part of this team's success."

The Indiana Pacers plan on bringing back Frank Vogel as head coach next season, according to sources.

Vogel led the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals again this season, as well as the best record in the Eastern Conference. But the Pacers narrowly moved past the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards in the first and second rounds.

Roy Hibbert's camp hasn't outright asked for a trade from the Indiana Pacers, according to sources. But the word is that they wouldn't oppose a deal to give him a fresh start.

Hibbert has two seasons remaining on his contract, which is worth more than $30 million.

The Pacers would have to take a lot of money back in return for Hibbert and he certainly could have a bounce-back season after a tough second half.

Lance Stephenson was nearly an Eastern Conference All-Star selection, but his free agency stock has dropped substantially since then.

Stephenson has annoyed his fellow Indiana Pacers' teammates and is now being perceived as an overall distraction after so many ill-conceived attempts to mess with LeBron James during the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Dallas Mavericks have a need for a player of Stephenson's skill-set and have a history of taking gambles on players, but they do not intend to pursue him in free agency.

Lance Stephenson will become an unrestricted free agent in July.

Stephenson scored 11 points in the Indiana Pacers' season-ending loss in the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday and was asked about his upcoming free agency.

"I definitely want to be back," Stephenson said. "Right now I can't really, I’m not really focused on that right now."

The NBA has fined Lance Stephenson and Roy Hibbert $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, for anti-flopping violations during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Pacers defeated the Miami Heat to advance to a Game 6.

Paul George has been fined $25,000 for public criticism of officiating, the NBA announced on Tuesday.

George's comments took place on Monday after the Indiana Pacers' Game 4 loss to the Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat had 27 drives to the basket for 33 points in Game 4, according to SportVU data.

The Indiana Pacers, however, had just 11 drives for 10 points.

LeBron James had 10 drives compared to zero for Paul George.

George said following the game that the Pacers attacked the basket as much as the Heat.

"You can't tell me we don't attack the basket as much as they attack the basket."

Lance Stephenson and LeBron James exchanged words during the Miami Heat's Game 3 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

Stephenson believes he is getting under the skin of James, who earlier Sunday said he does not want to get in a verbal back and forth with Stephenson.

"To me, I think it's a sign of weakness because he never used to say nothing to me," Stephenson said. "I always used to be the one who used to be the one that say, 'I'm going to get under you. I'm going to do something to get you mad' Now he's trying to do it to me. I feel like it's a weakness.

"I'm doing something right and I'm getting under his skin. I definitely have to keep stepping up to the plate and be aggressive when he does that."

James also bypassed any comparisons between he and Stephenson during last season's Eastern Conference finals.

"No. I don't need to get off with Stephenson," James said. "One thing I'm not going to do is give y'all a storyline with LeBron and Stephenson. I'm not going to do that. It's the Pacers versus the Heat."

Paul George has spent the past three days engaged in the NBA’s Return-to-Participation Exertion Protocol as part of the NBA’s Concussion Policy and remained symptom free after each step of the process.

George was cleared Friday to return to normal basketball activity.

George will participate in Saturday's shootaround and barring any unforeseen complications, he will play in Game 3 at the Miami Heat.