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Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Articles tagged: Paul George

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Look: Paul George fired up about trade to Clippers

July 6, 2019
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Paul George

It’s safe to say Paul George is thrilled about his trade to the Los Angeles Clippers.

In a video posted to Instagram after news of the trade broke, George is seen grinning and excitedly proclaims “we coming home” as a response to his acquisition by the Clippers.

The Clippers came out of nowhere to acquire George after Kawhi Leonard recruited him and he demanded a trade. While he apparently didn’t run into any issues with his most prominent teammate in Oklahoma City, the chance to return home and play with Leonard on what immediately becomes one of the NBA’s foremost title contenders was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.

Report: Paul George, Russell Westbrook did not have falling out

July 6, 2019
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Paul George essentially forced his way out of Oklahoma City a year after assuring Thunder fans he was “here to stay,” and that has led to speculation that his relationship with Russell Westbrook deteriorated over the past season. That was apparently not the case.

ESPN’s Royce Young reports that the relationship between George and Westbrook was “strong” throughout their two seasons together, and there was no falling out prior to George requesting a trade. It appears George simply wanted out because he had an opportunity to play with Kawhi Leonard, as Young also noted that the Thunder were completely blindsided by the request.

The Thunder were able to secure a massive haul of draft picks from the Los Angeles Clippers in the George trade, and general manager Sam Presti deserves credit for using the Toronto Raptors as leverage to get the best deal possible. Now, the question becomes what he will do with Westbrook.

Westbrook, 30, is owed a whopping $124 million over the next three years, with a player option to make $47 million for the 2022-23 season. While the Thunder could try to build around him, unloading his contract seems like a more likely scenario if they can find a taker. A total rebuild would be easier without Westbrook’s massive salary on the books.

We know Westbrook has had plenty of well-documented issues with teammates in the past, but it sounds like George simply capitalized on an opportunity to play alongside the NBA Finals MVP. It’s hard to blame him for that.

Report: Thunder GM played Clippers, Raptors against each other

July 6, 2019
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The Oklahoma City Thunder received an unprecedented haul from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Paul George trade, and that is because general manager Sam Presti played an unfortunate situation to perfection.

According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Presti managed to play the Clippers and Toronto Raptors against each other once George asked to be traded, which was earlier in the week. Both the Clippers and Raptors knew acquiring George would likely be the move that would allow them to sign Leonard, and Presti used that to his advantage.

Wojnarowski reports that Presti pursued a blockbuster deal that would have sent both George and Russell Westbrook to Toronto with Pascal Siakam as the centerpiece of the return package. Raptors president Masai Ujiri was not interested, feeling that any factors that might lead Leonard to want to sign with the Clippers — such as Kawhi’s Southern California roots — were out of his control. While Ujiri may have never really considered making the deal, the negotiations undoubtedly put more pressure on the Clippers.

In the end, Presti was able to secure four unprotected first-round picks and one protected first-round pick in addition to swapping some picks with the Clippers. Oklahoma City also got Danilo Gallinari and 2018 first-round pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Between the Raptors still fighting to keep Leonard and the Lakers appearing on the verge of assembling a dynasty, Presti was essentially able to name his asking price.

Leonard probably was not going to sign with the Lakers anyway, but Magic Johnson may have sealed their fate with his big mouth. Still, their presence in the sweepstakes combined with George being a key factor allowed Presti to get as much as the Thunder could have hoped for in the deal.

Paul George asked Thunder for trade after meeting with Kawhi Leonard

July 6, 2019
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Paul George

Kawhi Leonard choosing to sign with the LA Clippers in free agency was not a huge surprise, but the massive shocker was Paul George being acquired by the team in a trade. The team’s ability to land George is what made signing Leonard possible.

So just how did that come together? According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Leonard met with George in Los Angeles to recruit him to join him on the Clippers. George complied and approached the Thunder to request a trade. Woj says Oklahoma City did not want to enter a season with a discontent star, so they made the deal.

There are a few takeaways here.

One is that for all the jokes about him being anti-social, Leonard turned out to be a great recruiter. He reportedly tried to get Kevin Durant to join him on the Clippers. When that didn’t work out, he recruited Paul George and made that happen.

Two is that the Thunder are completely retooling and now will have several future draft picks and a few quality players in Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to join Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, and the rest of the Thunder.

Kawhi Leonard, Paul George headed to Clippers in blockbuster move

July 5, 2019
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The LA Clippers pulled off the biggest moves of the NBA summer as they have completely remade their roster with a couple of true superstar players.

Kawhi Leonard has decided to sign with the Clippers, word emerged on Friday night via Yahoo’s Chris Haynes. At the same time ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Clippers acquired Paul George in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Woj says Danilo Gallinari and 2018 first-round pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are being traded to the Thunder, along with a record package of future draft picks. The draft picks include four unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick and two pick swaps, according to Woj.

That is a massive haul of picks, but it was worth it to the Clippers to pair together two of the best two-way players in the league. They’re also keeping most of their supporting cast together, which gives them a true championship contender.

They have reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, whose contract they guaranteed for the 2020-2021 season. They re-signed Patrick Beverley earlier in free agency. Montrezl Harrell, Jerome Robinson, Landry Shamet, Rodney McGruder and Sindarius Thornwell are other players under contract with the team. They also acquired Moe Harkless in a trade this offseason.

The Clippers now have the reigning NBA Finals MVP, and a player who was a finalist for NBA MVP and NBA Defensive Player of the Year in George. Between that star power and their team in place, the Clippers have to be the favorites to win it all next season.

Despite both players recently dealing with injuries, they have plenty of prime years left. Leonard is 28 while George is 29. Leonard only played in nine games two seasons ago due to his quad injury. He played in 60 regular season games last season while managing his return from the injury. George played hurt during the playoffs but has been expected to undergo surgeries on each of his shoulders this offseason. He had rotator cuff surgery to repair a partially torn tendon in his right shoulder. George was also set to undergo surgery to repair a small tear in the labrum of his left shoulder.

Paul George credits LeBron James for inspiring his huge dunk

May 24, 2019
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Paul George Birdman dunk

Paul George took a trip down memory lane on Friday and credited LeBron James for being his inspiration.

George shared a video on Instagram Friday of his monster dunk on Chris Andersen during Game 2 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals between his Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat. On the play, George drove past James and jammed on Andersen for a huge dunk.

George is now one of the best players in the league and a finalist for two huge awards. But back then, he was only in his third season in the league, and he was just getting on the map as an emerging player. He averaged 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game that season and made his first All-Star team. He went toe-to-toe with LeBron as his Pacers pushed the Heat to a Game 7 in the first of two straight conference finals between the teams.

There was so much respect between George and James that it was visible on the court during games.

George captioned the photo: “A trip down memory lane! I blame and thank @kingjames for what just happened lol you pushed me to another level bro! #MissThemLegs”

The caption and moment serves as a reminder of how facing the best competition can help bring out the best in players. Matching up against LeBron helped George take his game to new levels.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paul George finalists for two big NBA awards

May 17, 2019
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Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Paul George are viewed as two of the top players in the NBA, and this year’s awards seem to show that in a big way.

The NBA on Friday announced the finalists for each of the awards that will be handed out during their awards show on June 24. Antetokounmpo and George were both listed as finalists for NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. James Harden is the other finalist for MVP and Utah’s Rudy Gobert is in the mix for Defensive Player of the Year.

The NBA MVP race had long been viewed as a two-way competition between Harden and Antetokounmpo. Giannis averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 57.8 percent shooting, all of which were career-best marks. His Milwaukee Bucks had the best record during the regular season at 60-22.

Harden averaged a league-best 36.1 points per game and helped carry the Houston Rockets to the 5th-best record in the league. His points scoring average is the 7th-highest in NBA history.

George averaged 28.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals per game, all of which tied or set a career-high mark. His candidacy took a big boost when he blew up in February and averaged 35 points per game that month. Things changed after he suffered a shoulder injury on Feb. 26 that sank his stats (his points dropped off and shooting went down by nearly four percent) and played a big role in Oklahoma City’s early playoff exit.

Harden won NBA MVP last season, while Antetokounmpo finished sixth in voting. George’s best MVP finish came in 2013-2014 when he finished ninth. Gobert is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.