When the Oklahoma City Thunder sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers in early July, it was a shock to not only Thunder fans, but the entire league. It was a move that nobody saw coming.
The move then triggered a chain reaction of them sending Jerami Grant to the Denver Nuggets and finally moving the face of the franchise Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets. It then meant that the Thunder are entering a rebuilding phase.
During his introductory press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, George mentioned that he worked hand-in-hand with the Thunder front office and that it was a “mutual” decision to move him.
During his own media availability on Thursday, Thunder general manager Sam Presti politely disagreed with that notion mentioning that trading George was not something the franchise wanted to do.
George and the Thunder were ousted in five games in a Round 1 matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers which marked the franchise’s third consecutive first round elimination. It was that playoff series loss that began setting off these moves that signal the beginning of this rebuild.
While it wasn’t necessarily a “mutual” decision, it was a move that had to be made as the Thunder had reached the proverbial ceiling with that group.
