Paul George has been incredible this season for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He has been one of the best 3-point shooters in the entire NBA, one of its best defenders and arguably the most valuable player on his team. In George’s first year with the Thunder, he has already formed himself into the perfect role player for the team.
His usage rate is down nearly four percent from last season, when he was Indiana’s primary scoring option. The ball is in his hands far less these days, which is a sacrifice anyone playing next to Russell Westbrook has to make. Coach Billy Donovan has, however, made an effort to stagger lineups so that George does get some time on the ball with Westbrook out. Of those lineups, few have seen any real time, and mostly all of them have been bad. Yet George’s ability to slide comfortably into a variety of roles is his biggest strength.
It’s almost as if a return to a limited role has unleashed the full scope of George’s defensive ability once again. His Defensive Box Plus-Minus, which estimates his box score impact per 100 possessions, is back in the positive after struggling on that end with Indiana last season. He also leads the league in steals, and it’s not in the empty kind of way that someone like his teammates Westbrook can generate steals by gambling out of position, but it’s the genuine, ferocious “I just stole the cookies right out of your jar” kind of steals.
On offense, George has become one of the most devastating off-ball players in the whole league. The Thunder are great in transition, but when they slow things down, George is their biggest weapon. He never stops moving. In a single possession, he will start out in one corner, swing through several screens and pop out at the top of the key to retrieve the ball. Then he will reset the possession or swing another pass before inevitably coming open for another shot. George always gets himself open shots, it’s just a matter of whether the other stars on his team feed him.
Though he’s been more of a role player this year, George has the counting stats to back up an All-Star bid as well. He is averaging over 20 points per game, along with good rebounding and passing numbers for a wing and of course averaging over three triples every night. Basically, nothing has slipped in his game on offense outside of opportunities, and he’s more than made up for that lost impact as a defender.
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— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) January 18, 2018
George finished fifth out of Western Conference frontcourt players in the last batch of All-Star voting results. The only guys he finished behind made the team. However, he was leapfrogged by both Karl-Anthony Towns and LaMarcus Aldridge thanks to George’s poor showing in the player and media voting. He’s a victim of Thunder bias and a loaded conference.
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Basically, if the league hadn’t thrown Towns a bone for improving and helping Jimmy Butler lead the Timberwolves to over 30 wins, George is an All-Star. George deserves it more after helping turn the Thunder’s season around when it got off to a much worse start than Minnesota’s. A star taking a slightly smaller role and maintaining elite value is much more important than a fledgling star taking a small step forward so that he isn’t actively hurting his team’s performance. That’s the difference we’re talking about between George and Towns.
Regardless, the coaches picked Towns as their final guy. George is a four-time All-Star with a chance to beat Towns’ team in the playoffs. He’s been the better player this year. He will have to take pride in that, and wait until next year.