Paul George could be headed to the Nets you guys. That’s it. That’s the tweet as they say.
In the last week a lot of rumors have made their rounds about George and whether he’ll be a part of the Los Angeles Clippers’ future, as well as their title hopes. His name has been thrown around quite a lot, but most consistently tied to the Brooklyn Nets.
This conversation came immediately after the Clippers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs three weeks ago to the Denver Nuggets.
You already know that many had the Clippers as title favorites all year long. You also already know that many assumed the Clippers would face the Los Angeles Lakers in the battle of the West to decide who comes out of the conference.
Well, things didn’t go that way and their early exit was surprising to everyone, but it was not more surprising to anyone than the Clippers themselves. Since that elimination game the Clippers have relieved championship Head Coach Doc Rivers of his duties, after being with the team for seven years. Now all we hear is trade rumors about what pieces to move and which ones to keep.
According to reports F Kawhi Leonard is the only untouchable who the Clippers aren’t taking trade calls for. Understandably, this puts all the attention on Paul George, who the Clippers gave up a lot for last year to get him from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Earlier in the bubble the 6x All-Star struggled mightily and the world had a lot to say about it. It got to the point where George opened up about experiencing mental health struggles and being in a dark place, in part because of the bubble and being away from his loved ones.
In all fairness though, he did play a role in this team’s demise. Many people thought him and Kawhi would be the best duo in the NBA as two elite two-way players that could score and stop just about anyone from scoring. However, many look at this year as Kawhi carrying George and the rest of his teammates for much of the season. This being because he was the most consistent from opening night until a few weeks ago. George on the other hand was very inconsistent. This wasn’t all of his fault though because before the playoffs the Clippers only played about seven games with a fully healthy roster.
In the second round that they lost to the Nuggets George averaged 21.7 PPG, 3.5 APG, 5.4 RPG, 43.1% FG and 39.3% 3FG. In the regular season he averaged 21.5 PPG, 3.9 APG, 5.7 RPG, 43.9% FG and 41.2% 3FG.
Granted, these numbers aren’t bad, which is why many teams would love to have George on their roster. The question is though are the Nets the right fit? Also, would they have to give up too much? That’s very likely unfortunately for Brooklyn.
A few names that are consistently getting thrown around in the trade rumors for George are Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen and Spencer Dinwiddie. If the Nets were to give these pieces up it would be a big time rolling of the dice.
We all know that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will be back next season, and that this team exceeded expectations this year considering the available players they had (or lack thereof). However, if anything we learned how skilled and versatile this team can be with KD and Kyrie and all the crucial role players surrounding them. If most or even a few of those players are gone in exchange for another star though (an inconsistent one at that) can they still be just as much of a threat? That’s to be seen.
Dinwiddie in Kyrie’s absence was great this season and can start on a handful of NBA teams so he’s a great backup point guard for the inevitable games that Irving will miss. He averaged 20.6 PPG, 6.8 APG and 3.5 RPG. LeVert has been nothing short of awesome this year as a very versatile and offensively gifted player. He averaged 18.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 4.4 APG this season. Allen is a certified steal as the 22nd overall pick who is a walking double-double and relentless defensive player. He’s also durable, having only missed 24 games in three years in the NBA. He averaged 11.1 PPG and 9.6 RPG.
If one of those three must go you’ve got to think that LeVert would make the most sense. The Nets need a solid point guard to lead the second unit in Dinwiddie and they also need that anchor on defense who’s relentless on the boards as Allen is. Therefore, as big of a blow as losing LeVert would be, what he does is mostly offensive so Paul George should be able to pick up that slack. What slack he doesn’t pick up, KD and Kyrie should be able to. However, that’s another layer to this, how many games will those two be available, since both are coming off of injuries. That’s another thing that’s to be seen, but one thing is for certain and that’s that Brooklyn has a lot to think about before rolling these dice this offseason if they choose to.
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