As the All-Star Weekend festivities come to a close, the second half of the season brings a myriad of questions and between them, the impending decision for soon-to-be-free-agent Paul George.
According to a poll between active players, a whopping 67 percent of them seem to lean toward thinking he will leave the Oklahoma City Thunder this summer.
ESPN's anonymous poll brought the following options for the Thunder's starting lineup next season, which indicated as follows:
Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony: 45 percent
Westbrook, Anthony and Paul George: 24 percent
Westbrook: 22 percent
Westbrook and George: 9 percent
“George will be in L.A. in two years anyway.”
George's fellow players are only giving less than a 1 in 4 chance for OKC to keep their All-Star trio together, while less than 1 in 10 players think Russell Westbrook will be paired with George as a duo next season.
The All-Star forward has a whopping $20.7 million owed to him for the 2018-19 season (player option), becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2020. However, teams like his hometown Los Angeles Lakers have been clearing cap space to take a shot at signing him once this season is over and the interest has been reportedly mutual, going back as far as last summer.
The Thunder went out on a limb to make this trio come together, pulling the rug underneath opposing GMs to get George and Anthony following the offseason. But as a small market team, it could prove difficult to keep a star like George from seeing what awaits him in a more popular market, especially in the peak of his career.
George is averaging 22.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 56 games.
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