Clippers make second big move, acquire Paul George from the Thunder
If signing Kawhi Leonard isn’t enough, the Los Angeles Clippers are also set to acquire Paul George.
The Los Angeles Clippers are already coming out nicely this offseason, with Kawhi Leonard choosing them. But according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Clippers are also set to acquire Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In the deal, according to Wojnarowski, the Clippers will send guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forward Danilo Gallinari and five future first-round picks to the Thunder. Four of those picks are unprotected, one is protected and there will be two pick swaps as well.
George has spent the last two seasons with the Thunder, earning All-NBA First Team and All-NBA Defensive First Team honors last season. He signed a max contract to stay in Oklahoma City last offseason, on the notion he’d form a top-end duo with Russell Westbrook. But the idea of teaming up with Leonard led to a trade demand as this week went on, and the Thunder were forced to do something or deal with what was sure to be an unhappy star. George is a Los Angeles area native himself, like Leonard, so it’s a homecoming for him too.
According to Wojnarowski, Leonard pushed George to team up with the Clippers, the two met this week and Leonard told the team if they could get a trade done he was coming.
Kawhi Leonard has been recruiting Paul George to find a way to get to the Clippers and LA pulled it off tonight: George goes to the Clippers with Leonard, and together they walk into Staples Center to go head-to-head with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
Sources: Leonard and George met in LA earlier in week. Clippers had long been frontrunners for Leonard, but it is unlikely he would've made final leap to sign without PG trade. Clippers imagined Leonard as part of a Lakers Big 3 --- and knew they had no choice. They did OKC deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
In the end, Kawhi Leonard didn't want to construct a Super Team with the Lakers. He wanted a co-star across the Staples corridor with the Clippers, and made it clear to Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank: Get PG, and I'm coming.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
Gilgeous-Alexander is a promising young guard and he was surely hard to give up, but Gallinari is mostly a salary offset to make the trade for George work. If things go as planned for the Clippers over the next few years, the haul of first-round picks they’re giving up won’t be noteworthy.
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At different points in time over the last couple years, the Los Angeles Lakers were firmly in play for George and Leonard. The Clippers getting either one would be huge, but they’ve managed to add two of the 5-10 best players in the NBA on one big night and also fuel a cross-town rivalry in a way that hasn’t been seen.