ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the LA Clippers have acquired All-NBA swingman Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
ESPN league sources report that All-Star Paul George is being traded from Oklahoma City to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for a record-breaking 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, the Clippers are trading four unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick, and two pick swaps to the Thunder, ESPN reports. Along with these picks, OKC is also receiving Gallinari and SGA.
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, a 29-year-old six-time All-Star, is highly esteemed as one of the NBA’s top two-way threats. His recent campaign saw him earn his first All-NBA First Team spot. The 6-foot-9 forward recorded his career-best average with 28.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. He also shot at an impressive rate of 38.6 percent from the three-point range (with an average of 9.8 attempts per game) and 43.8% overall. George was a finalist for the Kia Defensive Player of the Year award, marking his second time receiving All-Defensive First Team honors.
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 vie for more championships, performing in front of close friends and family. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City will be forced to rebuild after yet another high-profile exit. Gallinari, who has a career-best average of 19.8 points per game and a shooting percentage of 43.3% from three-point range (46.3% overall), is a proficient scorer but is frequently injured – he has only exceeded 70 games twice in his 11 seasons. Gilgeous-Alexander demonstrated strong performance, rapidly establishing himself as the first-choice point guard, during a second-team all-rookie season after being picked 11th in the overall draft by the Clippers.
The stockpile of selections offers numerous paths for enhancement, and the revamp could potentially extend to 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.”
