It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Paul George agreed to a new deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, as reports in the week leading up to the news indicated the All-Star forward might stay put. However, considering all the chatter that surrounded George before the Thunder traded for him last summer, the fact that he’s not on the Los Angeles Lakers right now is shocking.
Every report surrounding George from the moment he requested a trade from the Indiana Pacers indicated that it was only a matter of time until he was wearing the purple and gold. Instead, the Thunder traded for him, made him a crucial piece of their organization, and were able to convince him to stay.
Of course, everything surrounding George’s interest in the Lakers was rumored, so his actual intentions weren’t clear. That was the case until Tuesday night, when George revealed in the third part of his ESPN series about his decision that he wanted to be in Los Angeles up until a “beautiful thing” happened and he joined the Thunder.
“I wanted to come here a year ago prior to going to OKC,” George said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t traded to the Lakers. The Lakers didn’t grab me. I was traded to Oklahoma, and that has been a beautiful thing for me.”
The Lakers are in a similar situation right now with Kawhi Leonard, and who knows whether or not they’ll be able to acquire his services. What is clear, though, is that the Lakers’ decision to hope a guy goes through a season, hits free agency, and signs with them has backfired before.
