ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the LA Clippers have acquired All-NBA swingman Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
ESPN sources report that All-Star Paul George is being traded from Oklahoma City to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for an unprecedented number of draft picks.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
Per Wojnarowski, free agent forward Kawhi Leonard had been recruiting George, who reportedly then requested a trade and will arrive in exchange for a “record-setting” package of draft picks and players:
According to league sources confirmed by ESPN, the Clippers are trading four unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick and two pick swaps to the Thunder. Along with these picks, Gallinari and SGA are also being sent to OKC from the Clippers.
Marc Stein of The New York Times later clarified that OKC’s picks broke down to the Clippers’ unprotected firsts in 2022, ’24 and ’26, along with Miami firsts in ’21 (unprotected; acquired in the Tobias Harris trade) and ’23 (protected 1-14; acquired in the reported four-team Jimmy Butler trade days ago) as well as pick swaps in ’23 and ’25.
George, 29, is a highly esteemed two-way threat in the league. Having been an All-Star six times and recently coming off his first All-NBA First Team season, his skills are widely recognized. Standing at 6-foot-9, this forward had a career-best average of 28.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while maintaining a 38.6 percent shooting success rate from the 3-point range (9.8 attempts per game) and a 43.8% overall shooting accuracy. Additionally, he was a finalist for the Kia Defensive Player of the Year award and has received All-Defensive First Team honors twice.
This comes on the heels of news that reigning Finals MVP Leonard reportedly intends to sign with the Clippers as a free agent.
According to Wojnarowski, Southern California natives Leonard (Los Angeles) and George (Palmdale) met earlier in the week. Leonard then “made it clear” to Clippers brass that he would sign if George was coming along.
Leonard led the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA championship with a staggering postseason run, reasserting his dominant position among the active player pantheon after an injury-plagued, nine-game 2017-18 season with San Antonio.
He will partner with George to challenge for further championships in front of their loved ones, leaving Oklahoma City to reconstruct after another high-profile exit. Gallinari, who has a career-high average of 19.8 points per game and a 43.3% shooting score from deep (46.3% overall), is a proficient scorer, though frequently injured, only surpassing 70 games twice in his 11 seasons. Gilgeous-Alexander demonstrated a rapid rise, swiftly establishing himself as the starting point guard during an All-Rookie Second-Team season, after being the 11th overall pick by the Clippers.
The stockpile of picks offers numerous opportunities for enhancement, and the revamp could potentially include veteran Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that word of “the discontent of OKC’s two stars” — George and Westbrook — had begun to spread throughout the league. The Athletic’s Sam Amick added that Westbrook’s future with the Thunder “is certainly in question.”
