35. Paul George
If you’re trying to read the tea leaves on whether Paul George is going to be donning purple and gold in a few months, you’re SOL. There aren’t any tealeaves in Oklahoma City. There are smoked meat drippings. Trying to read them will only imperil your bad cholesterol. Best stay away.
Let’s pretend for a moment that the Thunder decided to try and move George at the deadline after he told them in no uncertain terms he would not be back. What could they get for him?
Los Angeles would be the first call, and they would pick up, if for no other reason than swapping Luol Deng’s contract for George might just be worth giving up on one of their young studs. Julius Randle wouldn’t be enough, and Brandon Ingram is probably too rich. Would Randle, Kyle Kuzma and a future first get it done? It depends on who else is bidding and what they’re offering.
How many teams are a Paul George away from being able to go head-to-head with the Warriors? The Rockets might be good enough right now, although who would say no to a George for Eric Gordon/Trevor Ariza swap is anyone’s guess.
(The questions that come up in analyzing such a proposal are mind-numbing. How would Houston feel about gutting so much of their depth? Or about losing some of their flexibility to play super small-ball in Warriors-centric lineups? How would the Thunder feel about sending the possible missing piece to a conference rival? Would the Rockets be all right with giving up two more years of team control of Gordon at a fair price for a player who could already have his heart set on leaving this summer? Would the Thunder be relegating themselves to fourth/fifth seed mediocrity hell? It’s all enough to make your head hurt.)
Cleveland has the Brooklyn pick and enough decent rotation players to send back assuming OKC wanted to stay competitive, but there’s been no indication thus far that that pick is on the table. It’s also worth asking whether OKC wants to wait for a high lottery pick to develop with Russ nearing 30, or take the risk that the Nets might continue their frisky play late into the season.
Would Toronto ever make an all-in move for a player who could burn them in a few months? It’s worth asking. They have lots of fun, young pieces to send back, starting with trade-value entrant OG Anunoby. If Sam Presti is convinced the multiple-star model doesn’t work and he’s better off building a team of one Tasmanian Devil surrounded by a bunch of fourth and fifth starter types, this is the way to go.
Is it possible that Paul George may actually have as much or more trade value now than he did when he shunned Indiana over the summer? He’s still arguably a top-10 all-around player. Even though he hasn’t had the same offensive numbers as he usually does (in part due to playing alongside one ball-dominant star and the ghost of another one), he’s still an incredibly disruptive force on the defensive end, currently leading the league in steals without gambling to his team’s detriment.
The safe bet is that none of the above conversations ever take place and the Thunder ride it out with George until whenever the season ends. Sure is fun to think about though.