As the Indiana Pacers were looking to trade Paul George nearly two years ago, there could have been a scenario in which he wasn’t sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Of course, George was eventually dealt to the Thunder in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. The transaction has been viewed as a rare one that equally benefited both teams involved.
But, as Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN recently said on The Woj Pod, the deal could have gone in a different direction. The Thunder were apparently set on trading Oladipo and Sabonis but they could have also acquired DeMar DeRozan from the Toronto Raptors.
When Oklahoma City traded for Paul George, the Thunder could have done the same exact deal with Toronto at that time for DeMar DeRozan. They could have done Sabonis and Oladipo for DeRozan. In some ways, it would have been safer because he was under contract. They felt Paul George was the better player and they said, ‘Let’s roll the dice. We’re going to convince him to stay.’
As Wojnarowski pointed out, the deal was viewed as a gamble by the Thunder since it was not a guarantee that George would re-sign with the organization.
The move for the Thunder obviously worked out after George signed a four-year contract last summer. He has stated that his relationship with Russell Westbrook was a huge factor in his decision to return.
While DeRozan is certainly one of the best players in the league, the decision to instead acquire George has been huge for the team. Thunder general manager Sam Presti has even compared the move to acquire George to a song lyric by A Tribe Called Quest.
I’m a big A Tribe Called Quest fan. There is a line that basically says, ‘Scared money don’t make none.’ I think that’s the case [here]. We wouldn’t have traded for Paul George if we didn’t believe in our community, our organizational values, our ownership … if you expect Paul George or any player to have any confidence in you as an organization, you have to demonstrate it yourself. Scared money don’t make none.
As some may recall, a report surfaced earlier this year that the Raptors contacted the Thunder to acquire George. Prior to the Raptors trading for Kawhi Leonard, they offered DeRozan for George straight up.
The Thunder ultimately decided to go all-in on George and it panned out for the organization. George has also said he liked the Thunder’s decision to trade for him, despite the uncertainty with his future.
The report by Woj just further illustrates that there are far more deals discussed between NBA teams than those that actually surface into the media. We’ll see if Presti and the Thunder can get any done this summer.
