Paul George is officially about to go on the open market. The Oklahoma City Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday night despite another 45-point performance from Russell Westbrook.
Losing in six games to the Utah Jazz is a disappointing end to the 2017-18 season for a Thunder squad that hoped the acquisition of George and Carmelo Anthony would give reigning MVP Westbrook some help in a loaded Western Conference. George was brilliant at times but Anthony, unfortunately, was a defensive and offensive liability all series.
The bad news for the Thunder is that Anthony may have picked up his $28 million player option about 11 seconds after the end of Game 6. The worse news is that George is an unrestricted free agent this summer and no one is sure where he’s heading. But speaking after the game, George said it’s too soon to know for sure what his plans are. He did, however, rave about his time in Oklahoma City.
https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/990134133421559808
As pointed out elsewhere in the media, it’s a significantly more thoughtful answer than the one he gave when the Pacers were eliminated in 2017.
Paul George on whether he wanted to stay w/ Pacers after final loss of 2017 playoffs vs. whether he wants to stay with Thunder after final loss of 2018 playoffs pic.twitter.com/R9atC56FEt
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 28, 2018
That’s certainly good news for Thunder fans who don’t want to see the duo of Westbrook and George broken up so soon. George will certainly have a bevy of options in free agency later this summer, but the one thing that’s clear right now is that Oklahoma City remains on that list. In fact, it might be at the top right now.
