Before the Pacers dealt Paul George to the Thunder, the team was interested in shipping George to the Warriors, offering him in a deal for Klay Thompson, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com shares on his podcast. George, who appeared on The Woj Pod, told the scribe that he was aware of the team’s offer.
“I would’ve looked forward to it, of just being in a good situation and a chance to compete for a championship. But it didn’t happen. It’s still fun to team up with a special talent and have a chance to compete against that team,” George said.
The four-time All-Star added that had a deal materialized, it would have been similar to the 2011 Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers deal that was ultimately shot down by the league.
Indiana ended up sending George to the Thunder to play alongside Russell Westbrook. The franchise received Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in the deal.
That would have been the beginning of the end (a long end, but an end) to the Warriors. They’d of lost KT had George for a year and then lost him.
I think George would’ve stayed there.
Agreed. If he then left the Warriors to go to LA, he would’ve been called out for it considering he has said repeatedly that he wants the ability to compete for championships (which he could in GS). I think George is serious about his desire to play in LA, but I also think that he would be willing to resign with a contender (like OKC) if it works out there.
The Warriors must have shot that down quick. Do they think Bob Myers is a fool? Haha what a terrible proposition.
Pritchard was truly under the influence
Lol at them for thinking they could get 2 years of Klay Thompson for 1 of PG. Doesn’t hurt to try though. You never know when the other guy is going to do something stupid
Lol yep!
Or you just trade him to the East probably get a better haul. It baffles me that (allegedly) either the Pritchard or ownership would put that sort of limitations on themselves. George was the only reason you were even making the post season, which means trading him signals a rebuild regardless (or at least should in the world of common sense). By the time your competitive again he’s either laying for the West anyway or he’s in the East and also on the decline. I mean i suppose they could believe its better to back there way into the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed, but you’d have to commit some decent money to mediocre talent to do so, and everyone knows thats the worst place to be in the NBA
That’s is why he never got traded to Boston
It’s like that was their offseason agenda to get rid of Paul George and have an 8 seed team.
” into the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed, but you’d have to commit some decent money to mediocre talent to do so, and everyone knows thats the worst place to be in the NBA”
You literally described the Pacers pre-PG. That’s their MO, they don’t take they just exist in mediocrity until they luck into some talent.
that would had been a bad move on the Warriors part
So explain to me this: how do you go from offering George for KT (which I believe KT is the better player) to accepting Oladipo and Sabonis? I don’t understand Indiana’s rationale with the trade talk at all.
Well you ask for the moon and see if anyone is willing to bite. It’s the same reasoning why the Celtics have not traded for a superstar. They probably offered a package substantially lower than what would’ve been reasonable hoping the other team would’ve taken it. Its bargaining 101. You don’t walk up to the table and offer the deal you expect to get (or one worse), you start high (or low) with the hope of getting your initial offer but with the expectation of meeting somewhere close to the middle that might make sense for both sides.
Well bartering 101 considering it’s a trade, but same thing.
And I get that, but going from that to accepting Sabonis and Oladipo. I mean they aren’t terrible, but it’s such a dwarf compared to KT. Heck even what the supposed Celtics offer was is much better than what they got back.
This was definitely shooting for the stars with that offer.
I wouldn’t say it was shooting for the stars. Klay is more valuable than George and maybe a slightly better player (they’ve been in completely different situations with completely different talent surrounding them, we don’t know how they would do if roles were reversed) but its not like the Pacers asked for Curry or Durant. Of the Warriors “Big 4”, Klay is probably the least valuable. Definitely asking for more than they’re offering, but I don’t think the value is that far off. There’s no reason for the Warriors to break up their core, but if they were looking to, this would be the type of trade they’d probably do.
@jt19 u are definitely smoking something if u say Klay is better than Pg klsy is just ah shooter… nothing more…pg is all around… would have been ah great trade and main they wouldn’t have give all the money to steph
If you think Klay is “just a shooter” then you’ve been asleep for a few years. He’s arguably the best defender in the league at the 2 guard
Not according to Carmelo
link to projects.fivethirtyeight.com
He was a league average shooting guard. Defensively slightly under average.
Paul George on the other hand is an allstar
link to projects.fivethirtyeight.com
Would be an upgrade for golden state and George probably would have resigned had this worked out.
Yes, let’s rely on 538 even though they’re consistently wrong about everything.
I’m pretty sure Klay is also a free agent next year or the year after. The Celtics also inquired about Klay at the trading deadline and later offering supposedly a package of Bradley maybe Crowder etc… defending on what you believe. I love KT but I’m not so sure he is better than PG. he definitely is not 6’9″ but the both have extremely well rounded games / strong defenders for sure. I think PG can guard more positions and he is probably a better rebounder. As a result he will likely be more expensive. We shall see how that plays out. Can you say Majic Johnson? Unfortunately w/ potentially LaBron. Very interesting next year.