After Paul George informed the Indiana Pacers he would not re-sign with them in 2018 NBA free agency, they ultimately traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Originally considered a lopsided trade, Oladipo has established himself as an All-Star caliber player in Indiana.
As the Thunder are currently .500 through 30 games, there has been speculation regarding George's future in Oklahoma City. Before being traded, the 27-year-old was linked with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers. According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, George will likely not be made available until late-January:
The reality is that if George is indeed made available in trade—something more insiders believe than not—it likely doesn’t happen until late January, but getting in line now might not be the craziest of ideas, especially for a team that still may be one player away.
During general manager Sam Presti's tenure, he is not afraid to trade players away for some value instead of losing them in free agency — minus Kevin Durant signing with the Golden State Warriors. If the Thunder continue to play .500 basketball, it will be interesting to see how they handle George's upcoming free agency.
For the Thunder, they did their part to surround Russell Westbrook with George and Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately, they have not been able to put it together on a consistent basis through 30 games.
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