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It was barely more than a year ago that Paul George, long expected to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency, didn't even give his hometown team a meeting, instead re-upping with the Oklahoma City Thunder on a new four-year contract. He's gone now, of course, traded to the LA Clippers as part of a package deal of sorts with Kawhi Leonard, a development almost no one in the league saw coming.
As Stephen Jackson tells it, though, George's desire to be traded from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles shouldn't have been surprising despite his recent commitment to the Thunder.
“He pledged to be in OKC, but after one year, he seen that that wasn't gonna work,” Jackson said on FOX Sports' Undisputed. “And just being in OKC, it's just not the place for young, California guys. You can't go from California to OKC and expect to be comfortable.”
Oklahoma City acquired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and an unprecedented trove of future draft compensation, including four unprotected first-round picks, from the Clippers in exchange for George. He averaged 28.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and a league-leading 2.2 steals per game last season, all career-highs, while shooting 43.8 percent overall and 38.6 percent from deep on nearly 10 three-point attempts per game en route to a third-place finish in MVP voting.
The Thunder fell to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs, bowing out without advancing for the second consecutive season. Leonard reportedly began recruiting George to the Clippers earlier this month, who subsequently requested a trade to Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti, putting the wheels in motion for the blockbuster moves that suddenly position Doc Rivers' team as a front-line title contender – both in the present and future.
