Before the New York Knicks completed a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Mikal Bridges, there was a lot of speculation about New York pursuing Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers, and that ultimately did not happen as the Knicks believed that pursuing him, among other stars, was not realistic.

“Both last June and again this month, league sources say, New York did explore the prospect of making a trade run at the Clippers' Paul George despite the concerns that ultimately shooed them away about George's age (34), injury history and presumed reluctance to switch coasts,” Marc Stein wrote in his newsletter. “Phoenix's Devin Booker, Philadelphia's Joel Embiid and Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns have long been described as dream targets and, more recently, whispers had begun to circulate in league circles about Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo truly being the franchise player New York hoped it could pursue down the road.”

Based on Stein's reporting, it seems like the Knicks felt that they would not be able to acquire a player like Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns or Giannis Antetokounmpo, as those players seem locked into their teams for the foreseeable future. There is a certain point in which waiting for someone to request for a trade is not good enough anymore, so the Knicks cashed in on their picks and acquired Bridges from the Nets in a trade that many did not see coming.

George might not have been crazy unrealistic for the Knicks, but it also was not a given.

What would it have taken for the Knicks to get Paul George?

When it comes to Paul George, the Knicks would have needed him to opt-in to his last year of his contract with the Clippers and trade for him. It would have been complicated with the new salary cap rules as well, as it likely would have required a three-way trade to avoid being hard-capped at the first apron.

The Knicks might be hard-capped at the first apron when the Mikal Bridges trade goes through as well, but the trade is not finalized, and Bridges is a a great fit when it came to chemistry, health, play style and age. George is a great fit from a basketball standpoint, but the health concerns are there, and his age does not fit the Knicks' timeline as well. Not to mention, the Knicks likely would have had to give up Julius Randle in that trade.

For now, the Knicks are betting that inserting Bridges to a team with his former college teammates in Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart, along with hopefully re-signing OG Anunoby makes them a challenger to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern conference.

The focus turns to the draft for the Knicks, and then retaining OG Anunoby as free agency approaches.