Ironically, the OKC Thunder were the team who reaped all the benefits from the Clippers while the Raptors got nothing. Granted, Paul George wasn’t a free agent and his exit forced the Thunder to also lose Russell Westbrook as well as rising talent Jerami Grant.
Sam Presti amassed perhaps the biggest haul ever for a player in the Paul George trade, but the OKC Thunder were pushed into a corner based on George’s demands, forced to pull off the trade in under 48 hours and to shift gears immediately into a rebuilding mode.
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Still, in comparison, the OKC Thunder will be cited as the winners of free agency. Whereas, the Raptors get the distinction of being the first team to ever lose a finals MVP just weeks after winning their title.
It might feel like fools gold for Thunder fans who certainly weren’t prepared to lose not one, but both their superstars especially given they were both signed to long term contracts. But, the haul Presti received in return should ease some of the pain.
Ultimately, the NBA is set to evaluate several of this summer’s free-agent deals for breaking the rules. It’s unlikely much will come of this however and more likely future offseasons will be monitored more closely.
It feels unfair given the Thunder are one of the teams who could’ve benefitted from the rule changes now. The revised rules and fines for tampering will hopefully help in future seasons and the small market teams will now have a specific procedure they can turn to if big market teams try to pry away talent, as the Clippers did with George this summer