Paul George dropped a bombshell of an admission, revealing the reason why he requested a trade from the Indiana Pacers during a recent chat with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles in the Knuckleheads podcast.
George, who was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which he left after two seasons, was irate at the front office mentality that kept his team from reaching higher ground.
Via RealGM:
“I ain’t gon’ say the names, because I’m going to keep their business private, I’ma just say it like this,” said George. “I had at the time, the best power forward saying he wanted to come to Indy and team up with me.
“They’re like, ‘we’re a mid-major, we’re a small market, like, we can’t do it, we’re a small market, we can’t afford that.’ I’m like the best power forward wants to come play here, like, y’all can’t make that work? They didn’t want to do it.”
George appeared massively disappointed that the Pacers wouldn't budge to surge as a potential contender in the East.
“So I’m like, now I’m pissed, because it’s like, what am I doing here? You know what I mean? They don’t want to win,” said George. “I’ve got the best power forward that wants to come play here. Not everybody chooses Indy to come play here.”
At the time, Anthony Davis was far and away the best power forward of the 2016-17 season, but he was still too early in his career to demand a trade, fresh off an extension of his rookie contract.
Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, and Carmelo Anthony (who had a no-trade clause) were some of the most dominant players at the four-spot.
George said he contacted his agent about requesting a trade after that conversation took place, likely irked that his team wouldn't make a gutsy move after being swept out of the first round at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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