Thunder All-Star forward Paul George will soon have his right shoulder re-evaluated by a specialist, Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman reports. GM Sam Presti told the media during his annual post-season press conference that George will see a specialist outside of Oklahoma City but Thunder staff members will be present.
George saw action in 77 regular-season games but took four games off to rest his aching shoulder. He was effective in the playoffs despite the discomfort, posting averages on 28.0 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 4.1 APG during the Thunder’s 4-1 opening-round series loss to Portland. Presti declared that George “was at no risk of any type of future injury” this season and labelled the possibility of George undergoing surgery as “speculation.”
We have more from Presti’s press conference:
- He took the blame for not having enough sharpshooting wings on the roster, Lee notes in a separate story. Presti thought Alex Abrines would have a “breakout year” but the swingman missed 17 games for personal reasons and was ultimately waived. The Thunder pursued Wesley Matthews after the Knicks bought him out and waived him but Matthews chose Indiana. “Once Wes Matthews went to Indiana there really wasn’t a lot of other options out there, and that put some stress on us offensively, and you never want to be in that position,” he said.
- Billy Donovan is expected to return as head coach despite the latest postseason flameout. Presti said he has yet to meet with Donovan on the subject because he wanted to give his coach more time to “reflect and decompress,” Brett Dawson of The Athletic tweets. “I do think getting his perspective on things is important because there’s nobody that works harder than him,” Presti said. “If anything, I think he needs to take some time to think through the season himself and have a really good conversation.
Trade Westbrook for Anthony Davis.
One of my buddies mentioned this and I didn’t hate it. Worst case scenario if AD leaves you build around PG13 and make moves to give you cap relief if needed
Pels hang up
Of course the Pels hang up! Keep on dreaming!
I’d rather have Westbrook than all the Celtics or Lakers trash, but it would take more than just Russ to get AD and I don’t think the Thunder even have their first round pick this year or in 2021. Also cant trade the 2020 pick (Stepien rule). It’s an interesting idea but the Thunder are pretty screwed here. They made their bed now they have to lay in it.
Celts trash thrashed Pacers and about to same on Bucks. And your team is where again?
Thunder have pick 21 this year. That plus Westbrook for AD and Solomon Hill (I believe they’d have to take back his salary for the Pels to even think about it) could work for Griffin. New Pels lineup:
PG- Westbrook
SG- Holiday
SF- Reddish (pick 7)
PF- Randle (resigned)
C – Okafor/Bitadze (pick 21)
New OKC lineup:
PG- Schroeder
SG- Ferguson
SF- George
PF- Davis
C – Adams