The NBA trade deadline is just over a month away, which has begun to shift the focus around the Oklahoma City Thunder toward All-Star forward Paul George's future with the team.
George is set to have the opportunity to hit the open market as a free agent this upcoming summer, which has put to the forefront his long-term commitment to the franchise. According to David Aldridge of NBA.com, the Thunder are not by any means pushing George to already voice his desire to sign a lucrative multi-year deal to stay in Oklahoma City in July.
OKC, as ever, keeps its cards clutched tight to what must be, after all these years, the world’s most uncomfortable vest. While George has been “off the charts,” on and off the court, one league source says, the Thunder aren’t taking any chances, and aren’t pressing George to agree to a long-term deal, hoping to be in maximum bargaining position this summer.
The Thunder have their eyes clearly on letting the entire process play out this season with their hopes on this current roster led by George, Russell Westbrook, and Carmelo Anthony can compete for an NBA title. The front office doesn't want to intervene at this point in time and instead wants to him to come to that conclusion with what they anticipate will be a team that can make a deep playoff run.
It is a huge chance that Oklahoma City is taking with George, but the team has played better in the last few weeks having won 10 out of their last 14 games played that includes a six-game winning streak. This has seen the 27-year-old play a huge factor in that on both ends of the floor as he's shooting a career-high 43.4 percent from beyond the arc and leads the league with 2.4 steals per contest.
On top of that, George has been quite open about his upcoming decision stating that winning a championship this season with the Thunder wouldn't be the deciding factor. In fact, it would be the progress made on the court in forming a team that is leaning toward being a title contender that would be a bigger deciding factor. There is still more than half of the season to play out, and much could change over that span to what should become quite an intriguing free agency process for the All-Star forward.
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