Paul George Traded To OKC

[crownontherocks]

just saw paul george post 2 pictures on instagram saying good to indy, then other with him in westy

[max215]

Woj: "There is shock around the league about this deal, that this is the one they chose."

[PAOBoston]

Basically, Indiana wanted PG13 out of the Eastern Conference. I'd be so p---ed if I was a Pacers fan. Indy tried to force Boston to get desperate for PG13 by asking for the BRK/LAL picks. Ainge was right not to budge.

Indy could have made that trade 3 days from now. They didn't want to trade him to Boston unless they got a haul.

[colincb]

Just saw this " There was a belief by the Cavaliers that Indiana president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard, when it came down to pulling the trigger on a George deal, felt more comfortable shipping him to a Western Conference team rather than an East rival -- the Celtics and Cleveland both made countless inquiries -- eliminating a potential roadblock as the Pacers begin a rebuild."  Interesting...

David Aldridge said the same thing based on what he knew about the reported offers. So why not take the Lakers deal then?

What was the Laker's deal and was it still on the table?

It was reported as

Marc Stein‏Verified account @ESPNSteinLine Jun 20

Can the Lakers now land Paul George by offering Thursday's No. 27 and 28 picks and either Julius Randle or Jordan Clarkson? They're trying.

I would have taken that package over the OKC deal without hesitation and I can't believe that the Lakers wouldn't have given the Pacers the draft picks they made and Randle to ensure PG. It was no secret that Oladipo was a major disappointment in OKC and the contract was a bad one.

Windhorst noted that Oladipo' played at IU and that might have played some part for a team that now has to sell tickets. That would be even more mind-boggling if Pritchard is that stupid, but who knows if ownership played a role.

Incredibly stupid deal.

[Phantom255x]

Indiana got hosed in this deal. Simple.

OKC actually saved money doing this lol.

Pacers held on to George way too long and here's the result.

[kraidstar]

So Indy turned down Kevin Love for this pile of garbage?

Even Houston's offer was better than this. LIterally ANY team could have trumped this. Just unreal.

There must be some truth to the theory that they just didn't want to ship George to an Eastern rival.

As moronic as that sounds, it's the only possibility that makes sense.

Either that or they are part of a conspiracy to get him to the Lakers for free after this experiment in OKC fails (and it will).

[SparzWizard]

So Indy turned down Kevin Love for this pile of garbage?

Even Houston's offer was better than this. LIterally ANY team could have trumped this. Just unreal.

There must be some truth to the theory that they just didn't want to ship George to an Eastern rival.

As moronic as that sounds, it's the only possibility that makes sense.

Either that or they are part of a conspiracy to get him to the Lakers for free after this experiment in OKC fails (and it will).

OKC's got their KD35 replacement...for at least a year. But their legit reason is they did not want to trade him to an Eastern Conference rival.

[kraidstar]

The real winners of this trade are the Golden State Warriors.

George is a good enough player that, if added to a near-contender like Cleveland, Boston, San Antonio, or Houston, could have at least made things interesting.

Instead he goes to a dead-end team in the Oklahoma CIty Thunder.

Wow.

Thanks, Pritchard!!!!

[kraidstar]

So Indy turned down Kevin Love for this pile of garbage?

Even Houston's offer was better than this. LIterally ANY team could have trumped this. Just unreal.

There must be some truth to the theory that they just didn't want to ship George to an Eastern rival.

As moronic as that sounds, it's the only possibility that makes sense.

Either that or they are part of a conspiracy to get him to the Lakers for free after this experiment in OKC fails (and it will).

OKC's got their KD35 replacement...for at least a year. But their legit reason is they did not want to trade him to an Eastern Conference rival.

How are they rivals though when they are likely to be a lottery team with no stars?

By the time they get back on their feet the C's and Cavs' current cores will be long gone.

It boggles the mind.

[saltlover]

So Indy turned down Kevin Love for this pile of garbage?

Even Houston's offer was better than this. LIterally ANY team could have trumped this. Just unreal.

There must be some truth to the theory that they just didn't want to ship George to an Eastern rival.

As moronic as that sounds, it's the only possibility that makes sense.

Either that or they are part of a conspiracy to get him to the Lakers for free after this experiment in OKC fails (and it will).

OKC's got their KD35 replacement...for at least a year. But their legit reason is they did not want to trade him to an Eastern Conference rival.

How are they rivals though when they are likely to be a lottery team with no stars?

By the time they get back on their feet the C's and Cavs' current cores will be long gone.

It boggles the mind.

They clearly don't think that.  The package they took back is for a team wanting to be competitive again in 2-3 years, not 5.  If George stayed in Boston, surely they'd have to go through him.

[colincb]

So Indy turned down Kevin Love for this pile of garbage?

Even Houston's offer was better than this. LIterally ANY team could have trumped this. Just unreal.

There must be some truth to the theory that they just didn't want to ship George to an Eastern rival.

As moronic as that sounds, it's the only possibility that makes sense.

Either that or they are part of a conspiracy to get him to the Lakers for free after this experiment in OKC fails (and it will).

OKC's got their KD35 replacement...for at least a year. But their legit reason is they did not want to trade him to an Eastern Conference rival.

How are they rivals though when they are likely to be a lottery team with no stars?

By the time they get back on their feet the C's and Cavs' current cores will be long gone.

It boggles the mind.

They clearly don't think that.  The package they took back is for a team wanting to be competitive again in 2-3 years, not 5.  If George stayed in Boston, surely they'd have to go through him.

Good luck with a 2-3 year rebuild. They'll be a bad team next year. They'll open up some cap next free agency, but are unlikely to attract any max FAs and have a lot of cap the following year. However, they have no picks but their own and outside of Turner, there's nothing on the roster that smells good and TJ Leaf isn't moving the needle much.

I saw Ramona Shelburne, who broke the story, on ESPN and she said a lot of teams were shocked by how little the Pacers got and she thought there were better offers, but Pacers wanted PG out of the East. Then she said that she thought a better deal was available with the Lakers (whom she covers), but the Pacers weren't going to do it because they weren't getting Ball and they weren't going to help PG get to the Lakers. Obviously, no one knows, but that sounds more like an owners mentality than a GM's. She also said she knew the Pacers had a better offer at the trade deadline.

BTW, I mentioned VO's PER before as 13.6 PER during the season. However, he was 6.9 in the playoffs.

[colincb]

Bulpett's article FWIW. I expect UTA to be the frontrunner unlike most here (at least before Friday night) with the Cs 2nd and MIA 3rd. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cs kick the tires on Millsap for the right price otherwise.

The Celtics had far and away the best chance of landing Paul George in a trade from Indiana.

Until they didn’t.

League sources quickly confirmed an ESPN report that the Pacers are trading the All-Star forward to Oklahoma City for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Indiana was under the gun to move George, who had informed the team he was going to opt out of his contract after the coming season and leave as a free agent.

The news hit the Celtics as they were preparing to make their midnight free agent phone calls, and according to sources among those who have dealings with the club, the C’s were stunned.

They had gone hard after George at the February trade deadline, offering this year’s Brooklyn pick (through a swap of first-round positions) that became No. 1 overall. The thinking for the Celts is that they would have a year-plus to convince George to stay in Boston.

In their latest attempts to get George over the last several days, they were unwilling to include next year’s first-round draft pick from Brooklyn or the Lakers 2018
Sacramento 2019 pick they received from Philadelphia as an inducement for moving down from No. 1 to 3 in this year’s draft. The Celtic also did not want to part with their top picks from the last two years, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

But sources confirmed the C’s were more than ready to give the Pacers players with better contracts and multiple draft picks other than the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph. The best offer was two starters — almost certainly Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley — and three first-round draft picks.

Oladipo is scheduled to make a guaranteed $21 million in each of the next four years. Sabonis, who averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20.1 minutes in his first season, is still obviously on his rookie contract.

One league executive told the Herald earlier yesterday that the Pacers might be looking to get a third team involved in a trade, adding, “but I still don’t think Indiana can get the combination of young players who can help them now and maybe picks from anyone other than Boston.”

Reached last night, that same source said, “I can see what OKC is doing, but I really can’t believe this from Indiana’s standpoint. There’s no way you can’t get more than that. And you’ve got to get at least something in the way of draft picks.”

A Western Conference source agreed with the Celtics’ decision to hold back the Nets and Lakers/Sacramento picks as well as Brown and Tatum.

“I can understand what Boston’s thinking on that,” he said. “If you’re only guaranteed to have George for one year, you have to ask yourself whether he’s going to be able to win it all for you with whatever else you’re able to put together. And with Golden State sitting there, how realistic is that? Not very.”

The Thunder clearly aren’t as concerned with losing George next summer. The club is trying to show commitment to Russell Westbrook, who can also opt out next year and who they’re trying to woo with a longer term deal. Even if George walks, they will be able to start off a rebuild with a lot of money to spend in a free agent market where a number of teams have been eliminated from the party because of what they’re spending last year and this, when the new television contracts kicked in and raised the salary cap dramatically.

With the George trade having shaken the league, the Celtics were said to be getting quickly back to the business at hand, which was making a midnight phone call to profess their affection for Gordon Hayward at the start of the free agent negotiating period.

They will meet with Hayward here tomorrow.

The Celts have been aware for some time now that Hayward would be opening to at least hearing their presentation, but, with others in the running, they can have no strong confidence that he will choose them. The All-Star will also be meeting with Miami and incumbent Utah.

There really isn’t much of a Plan B for the Celtics in free agency. They did have some interest in Blake Griffin, but he is going to remain with the Clippers.

They may look elsewhere in the market, with long-time Celt target Danilo Gallinari worth a look if the price is right. But if the C’s cannot attract Hayward, it may be of little sense to try to sign a player of lesser value. The best course of action then would seem to be to give those wing minutes to Brown and Tatum with the hope/expectation they could develop into the kind of players you’re throwing max millions at today.

[Irish Stew]

Tough to understand the deal but my conclusion is that this offered two good young players with no dead weight salary back.  The Celtics and Cavs both needed to dump salary as part of the trade.  Indiana ended up with a deal that essentially had no bad salary coming back.  Probably was the reason they liked this deal best.

I don't understand. Bradley and Crowder are both on great contracts. Bradley's is also expiring. Both players could easily be later moved to playoff teams for future draft considerations.

[playdream]

Another right decision by danny, you really got to respect his patience
I said multiple times we don't want a loser who will easily betray his team and didn't take responsible for what he did

[Celtics4ever]

Victor played for Indiana and should draw some fans.   We will all be grateful once PG runs for the Lakers that we did pull the trigger on this deal.