What Paul George’s rumored return means to the OKC Thunder

It is rumored that Paul George will come back to the OKC Thunder after his knee surgery. This could be big for the team if true.

The Oklahoma City Thunder‘s Big 3 experiment failed last year, but a big piece of it could return next year. Paul George could re-sign in free agency after he had arthroscopic knee surgery this offseason.

According to the New York Times‘ Marc Stein in his recent newsletter, there is a “growing belief around the league that Oklahoma City has a far better chance to retain the free agent-to-be (PG) than many believed when the Thunder crashed out of the first round of the playoffs.”

A team other than the OKC Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers might not want to take a chance on a Paul George who is just recovering from knee surgery. For the Thunder, the knee surgery that George went through could be a blessing in disguise.

Then again, with the news of Kawhi Leonard wanting to go to L.A., there may be an even better chance of George going to Los Angeles to join Kawhi and possibly LeBron James if he decides to go to southern California as well.

The Los Angeles Lakers are a young team, so there may not be a chance that LeBron goes there unless they reconstruct their whole roster. James doesn’t like to play with young players.

The thought of George joining as a player that can affect both sides of the ball would surely entice him and they would be a force against other team’s wing players, but in OKC there is an MVP player in Russell Westbrook that could entice him to stay.

Westbrook averaged 25.4 points, 10.3 assists, 10.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game last year. Kawhi, meanwhile, is already a Defensive Player of the Year.

NBA teams know what they are getting with Paul George. Not only does he give you a high offensive talent, he gives you a lockdown defensive option. He was second in the NBA in steals per game with two a game. That goes along with averaging more than 20 points per game.

What would it mean to have George back with the OKC Thunder though?

With Russell Westbrook signing a max extension before the season started, the Thunder look like a team that doesn’t want to rebuild.

With George coming back, they’d have a secondary scoring option who made the All Star team last year and he had a big game in the playoffs, scoring 36 points to lead the Thunder to a Game 1 victory against the Utah Jazz.

Also, he had 32 points in Game 4 in a loss and 34 points in a Game 5 win during the playoffs. With Paul George on the team, they would be able to have a microwave type player at the small forward position.

That is a position in the NBA that is necessary to have shored up. The last six NBA Finals MVPs have been small forwards (Kevin Durant in 2017-18), LeBron James (2016), Andre Iguodala (2015), Kawhi Leonard (2014) and LeBron James again (2012-13).

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The Thunder were one of the best teams on the defensive end last year, finishing 10th in defensive rating last year.

With George and Andre Roberson returning next year, they would be stout on defense once again. Roberson is a potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate, while George can get in the passing lanes and create turnover opportunities with his quick hands.

The Thunder as a team were first in the NBA in steals per game with 9.1 per game. Their defense dropped off a little bit with Roberson going down with a season-ending injury, but if George comes back along with Roberson, they will be back to form again.

Paul George had three games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies that he proved when he’s let loose, he can still be one of the best players in the league.

Against the Cleveland Cavaliers, George was able to put up ridiculous numbers as he put up 36 points while shooting 12-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 shooting from 3-point range.

He finished with his 36 points in three quarters and the Thunder scored 148 points in a win.

Against the Golden State Warriors on the road, George was able to score 38 points in 36 minutes while shooting 11-for-23 from the field and 6-for-11 from the 3-point line. He was able to record six steals in the win, showing off his ability to dominate both sides of the floor.

Finally, against the Memphis Grizzlies in the last game of the season, he was able to score 40 points in 34 minutes. He shot 13-for-20 from the field and 8-for-14 from downtown.

Games like these are why you want the ball in George’s hands. He can take over a game and put up ridiculous numbers and they will be ridiculously efficient too.

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If the Thunder are able to bring George back and put him a heightened role with premier responsibilities, it could really pay dividends.