Presti makes a splash by trading for Paul George
Sam Presti traded Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to the Indiana Pacers for Paul George
Things were quiet on the OKC Thunder front. There were lamentations of no-one except old guys being interested in joining the Thunder. Then Sam Presti pulled a Presti and traded for Paul George.
This may be a short term move. It may not work, but lets look at the details of all of it. Paul George is an All-Star who can play both forward positions. He has range on his shot and is a proven scorer.
Put this next to a player like Russell Wesbrook and the OKC Thunder are back atop the West again. This time they have a player who can handle being bodied and tends not to choke in the biggest games.
To get George, the OKC Thunder had to give up promising players in Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. There is a massive difference between promising players and ready right now.
George will more than cover the loss of these two. Last season he scored 23.7 points per game. He also collected 6.3 rebounds and gave out 3.2 assists per contest. The problem is, will he exercise his player option at the end of the year? Have the OKC Thunder traded their long term potential for a short term gain. Time will tell.
If George and Westbrook can click, The OKC Thunder should be at the top of the Western Conference. This is somewhere George will like to be.
Other benefits of the move
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- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
With this move, Sam Presti has made the OKC Thunder a potential force again and there are other side benefits which are huge. By trading Oladipo ($21M) and Sabonis ($2.5M) for George ($19.5M) the OKC Thunder have created another $4M room on their salary cap.
This may not sound like much but it could mean the owners are more willing to pay luxury tax to retain both Taj Gibson and Andre Roberson. If they can move Enes Kanter and stretch Kyle Singler‘s contract, they may not have to even pay the tax.
So the starting five for the OKC Thunder could be Steven Adams, Gibson, George, Roberson and Westbrook. The key bench pieces would be Kanter, Alex Abrines, Doug McDermott and Jerami Grant. This team will cause problems for all others in the league. Maybe George will show a certain other forward who turned tail and ran last summer how to play with a talent like Westbrook.
Short term gain or potential long term in, time is going to tell on this one.