Paul George has evolved into Russell Westbrook’s ideal sidekick

Paul George admits playing with the Thunder has been an adjustment. One that should make for an improved Paul George in the long-run, he recently explained to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, but an adjustment nonetheless.

That much is clear in how he has evolved as a perimeter shooter. Whereas George was the No. 1 offensive option on the Pacers, playing alongside Russell Westbrook has forced him to spend more time off-ball. As a result, his usage rate has fallen to a level we haven’t seen since he was first named an All-Star in 2012-13 and his 3-point attempt rate has gone through the roof. The only other time George was this reliant on 3-pointers to generate his scoring was in the six games he appeared in following his devastating injury in 2014. And given the circumstances at the time, it was no surprise he settled for as many 3-pointers as he did in his brief return.

George isn’t settling this season, though. He’s currently setting career-highs by making as many 3-pointers per game as Klay Thompson (3.2), taking as many 3-pointers per game as Kemba Walker (7.5) and converting those opportunities at a rate similar to Stephen Curry (42.7 percent). Put those numbers together, and you have one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA, both from an efficiency and volume standpoint.

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Pairing Westbrook with that level of shooter obviously makes for a dynamic 1-2 punch in the backcourt. According to NBA.com, Westbrook is once again leading the league in drives per game this season. While he uses those opportunities to generate around a third of his own scoring, he also passes out of those drives more frequently than anyone else in the league, helping him create a — you guessed it — league-leading 2.7 assists per game on drives.

Seeing as Westbrook has passed to George more than anyone else on the Thunder, George is often the beneficiary of those drives. The bulk of his 3-point attempts have been of the catch-and-shoot variety, and he’s made a Kyle Korver-like 43.1 percent of those opportunities. It makes crowding the lane whenever Westbrook makes a move towards the basket more difficult for the defense knowing the Thunder have replaced Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, who combined to make 34.8 percent of their 3-point attempts last season, with George and Carmelo Anthony, who have combined to make 39.1 percent of their 3-point attempts this season.

The Thunder don’t run many plays for George in the half court because it doesn’t take much for Westbrook to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. A simple pick-and-roll with Steven Adams, for example, can put Westbrook and Adams in position to score from mid-range or at the rim if the opposing team chooses to defend the action with two players. If they bring a third defender into the picture to tag Adams on the roll or get the ball out of Westbrook’s hands, then George will make himself available on the wing for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.

Those catch-and-shoot 3-pointers aren’t all directly on the line, either. According to NBA.com, over half of George’s makes from the perimeter this season have come 1-5 feet behind the 3-point line. He’s one of 13 players to have made at least 90 3-pointers from 25-29 feet, joining the likes of Kevin Durant, Kyle Lowry, Klay Thompson and James Harden. Establishing himself as a reliable scoring threat from that distance only makes him more valuable as a shooter because it provides even more spacing for Westbrook and others to work with in the halfcourt.

The Thunder do, however, have a couple of actions they reserve for George in halfcourt settings. Outside of the occasional pindown and Iverson Cut — simple plays most teams in the league run for their shooters — the Thunder will have George sprint towards Westbrook at the top of the perimeter as if he’s going to run a pick-and-roll, only George likes to slip the screen before making contact with Westbrook’s defender and pop to the 3-point line.

It’s simple but effective due to the amount of attention teams pay to Westbrook whenever he’s involved in a pick-and-roll. (Notice how Rajon Rondo and Anthony Davis jump to Westbrook in the video above to prevent him from turning the corner. Westbrook isn’t even an efficient pick-and-roll scorer, but teams are absolutely terrified of him getting into the lane because of the types of shots he can create for himself and others when he gets there).

It helps that Westbrook’s pick-and-rolls with George are slightly different from the pick-and-rolls Westbrook runs with Anthony. While Anthony almost always pops as well, he’s more likely to set a screen on Westbrook’s defender and attack a mismatch in the post if/when the defense switches. The fact those pick-and-rolls are more methodical opens the door for the Thunder to combine it with other actions, like having George run off of a pair of downscreens on the opposite side of the floor while the defense is focused on what’s going on between Westbrook and Anthony.

There are other options as well. Give Anthony the ball in the post, and he can still rifle a pass to George curling off of the screens if he manages to get open. Those possessions can also turn into a pick-and-roll for George as a secondary ball handler if his defender is able to stick with him through all of the screens. George has struggled to score efficiently as the ball handler in pick-and-rolls this season — he currently ranks in the 56.0 percentile with 0.84 points per possession — but he generates a quarter of his offense on those plays and he was among the league’s best scoring in those situations last season.

This is the version of Paul George the Thunder likely had in mind when they traded for him in the offseason. Although George isn’t as good of an all-around player as Kevin Durant is, he’s a more natural pairing with Westbrook in the backcourt because he’s better suited as a No. 2 option. It’s why Westbrook and George don’t have to deal with the same endless conversations about who the offense should run through — the Thunder is clearly Westbrook’s team and George is doing all he can to make Westbrook’s life easier, as well as everyone else’s on the roster, by sacrificing parts of his game to become the league’s scariest 3-and-D wing.

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And George is right in saying the adjustments he has made this season should make him a better player in the long-run. He was already one of the more sought after perimeter players in the NBA and, as he explained in an interview with ESPN’s Royce Young, he’s now proving he can “play in any offense and play off any player.” It gives the Thunder all the more reason to keep him and Westbrook together for as long as they possibly can.