Leading up to the 2023 NBA Draft, Marc Stein of Substack reported that the Los Angeles Clippers were "attempting to gauge Paul George's trade value…" Within days of the report, George was already being linked to the Knicks.
According to Ian Begley, the Knicks and Clippers "have had contact" about a trade involving Paul George.
It is important to note that while there has been some buzz surrounding the latest news and reports about Paul George to the Knicks, no deal is imminent. However, here is why it makes more sense than you think.
Paul George to the Knicks is a trade scenario that actually works
As of September, the duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard will both be eligible to receive a supermax contract extension worth upwards of $200 million over four years. However, the front office may be reluctant to shell out that type of money to one and/or both of them considering how the marriage has fared so far in their four seasons together.
Simply put, the Clippers have underachieved since signing Paul George and Kawhi Leonard both to four-year, $176 million back in 2021. Both players have had a hard time staying on the court and being available for their team on a nightly basis. Now, the franchise must decide if they want to continue investing heavily in two injury-prone players over the age of 30 or stop the bleeding before they dig themselves into an even deeper hole.
Not only did they commit all that money to their star tandem, but the Clippers also invested heavy draft capital to acquire Paul George via trade in 2019. They sent then-promising young guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (who has developed into an All-NBA caliber player), in addition to five first-round picks, and two first-round pick swaps to the Thunder in exchange for Paul George. The 2022 first-round draft pick the Clippers gave the Thunder turned out to be First-Team All-Rookie and NBA Rookie of the Year runner-up, Jalen Williams.
When giving up as many assets as the Clippers did to acquire George, it is expected that your team competes for an NBA championship every year. Since 2019, the Clippers have been to the Western Conference Finals just once. That is not going to cut it because the Clippers mortgaged their future to pair Paul George with Kawhi Leonard.
From the Clippers' perspective, this is their chance to get a head start on preparing for life after Paul George and Kawhi Leonard while salvaging any value they can. However, with their new arena reportedly set to be ready for the 2024-25 season, the Clippers certainly have an incentive to remain relevant, especially if they want to stop being considered the little brother of the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Considering the number of assets and money already invested in this current Clippers core, Ian Begley had this to say regarding any incoming trade package the Clippers receive for Paul George:
Knicks can offer an All-Star swap for Paul George
If the Clippers decide to move on from George, they seemingly want to replace him with another player(s) who could fit alongside Kawhi Leonard and help them remain competitive. That is where two-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA forward Julius Randle comes into play.
Julius Randle has been one of the best and most reliable power forwards in the NBA since joining the Knicks. While Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have struggled to reach the 60-game mark, Randle has suited up for at least 71 games each of the past three seasons. He'd give the Clippers a dependable co-star who is capable of shouldering the load when Kawhi Leonard needs to manage his workload. It would also finally allow the Knicks to see what they have in Obi Toppin, who has grown frustrated with his role behind Julius Randle.
However, Julius Randle is developing a bit of a reputation as a poor playoff performer, which has hurt his value across the league and impacted the way Knicks fans view the team's ceiling with him as the second option next to Jalen Brunson. The Knicks have two more seasons before they need to extend Jalen Brunson, and his contract will certainly not be as much of a bargain this time around as it was last year when he signed a four-year $104 million contract with the team.
The time for the Knicks to capitalize is now. While there are several stars whose names continued to be mentioned in rumors, none fit the bill quite like Paul George. He brings a lot of playoff experience to a young team that was just getting their first taste of playoff basketball last season (for the most part). George's skillset, fit, contract, and timeline align almost perfectly for the Knicks.
Paul George has two years remaining on the four-year contract he signed with the Clippers in 2021, with the final year being a player option worth upwards of $48 million. While the cap hit is certainly a big one to swallow, the Knicks would be getting an All-NBA caliber wing who excels at both ends of the floor. New York needs three-point shooting and additional playmaking/shot-creation ability beyond Jalen Brunson. Paul George would provide that in bunches if he were paired with Brunson. Given the looming contract situation and his injury history, a trade return package for Paul George may not be what you typically expect when a star player is moved (see the Bradley Beal-Suns trade for reference).
The Knicks would be able to make Julius Randle the focal point of a trade package while hanging onto the young and talented prospects they decided to ultimately keep out of the Donovan Mitchell trade discussions with the Jazz last year (RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, and Immanuel Quickley). Additionally, they won't have to gut all of their draft capital to acquire Paul George's services. The Knicks would also have an easy out after two years (if Paul George decided to opt into his player option for the 2024-25 season) if things don't go as planned following a trade. It would be a relatively easy restart for the Knicks to move on from George and allow him to hit unrestricted free agency in his age-35 season while opening up cap space to find another co-star to play with Jalen Brunson.
While a Paul George-Knicks certainly comes with great risk for both sides, it certainly makes more sense than you may think in the grand scheme of things. After an exciting season that saw the Knicks just two wins away from beating the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat, this is the trade that could propel them to conference supremacy. The Clippers have a chance to move on from one of their aging and injury-riddled star players while recouping some of the money/assets they gave to acquire him. A package of Julius Randle and Evan Fournier's expiring $18.86 million contract (club option for 2024-25) in exchange for Paul George works financially for both teams.
It will be fascinating to see just how serious the Clippers are about exploring the idea of moving on from George and putting an end to the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era.
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