When the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Paul George all those years ago, they got back an unbelievably impressive package. They received Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks, and one first-round pick swap. Now, so many years later, the Boston Celtics fell for a similar George trade trap.
The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown for a 36-year-old George, two firsts, and two seconds. They gave up one of the best players in the NBA for what is now a negative asset. Somehow, someway, the Celtics fell into a George trap that is comparable to the deal the LA Clippers got tricked into making by Sam Presti.
Both are equally terrible deals, and both included George as a headliner.
Celtics fell into Paul George trap that Clippers fell into with Thunder
In the case of the Thunder, some hindsight was required to fully comprehend just how bad the deal was for the Clippers. Some people knew in the moment, but time only made the trade look worse.
It took a while for SGA to turn into the player he is today. The two-time reigning MVP. A Finals MVP. The guy who brought a championship to OKC. He definitely wasn’t all that when the Thunder landed him.
If that weren’t enough, the Thunder also landed enough first-round draft capital to completely change the outlook of their entire organization’s future.
One of the picks they got turned into Jalen Williams, Aday Mara, and even more players who never ended up in OKC because the pick that turned into them was traded (such as Jaime Jaquez Jr.).
George never won a championship in LA. The trade was a mess. Presti made the Clippers give up an absolute haul. It was a completely one-sided George trade. And now, there’s a new one.
Seven years later, the Celtics got swindled into a George trade, too. They are the new Clippers, and the Philadelphia 76ers are the new Thunder. The new Presti. The new team shipping out George for an absolute haul.
In this case, rather than getting back SGA and a ton of draft picks, the Sixers managed to turn an aging George (on a bad contract) into Brown, who is in the prime of his All-NBA career.
For the second time in his career, George was traded for an absolute haul. Presti’s Thunder got to take advantage of it, and now, the Sixers did, too.
Because Brad Stevens found himself on the wrong end of what seems to be an iconic NBA tradition: Trading George for an incredible package that could change the scope of an organization.
Add us as a preferred source on Google