Everyone was sure Paul George would be a Los Angeles Laker until he wasn’t.
The Oklahoma City Thunder forward is an LA native and reportedly had made it clear to the Indiana Pacers in 2017 that he would be signing with the Lakers when he became a free agent in July of 2018. And George believes he would be donning the Purple and Gold this season had the Pacers not elected to trade him to OKC prior to the 2017-18 season.
“It was 50-50 on deciding whether I wanted to come back home or if it was smarter to be in the situation I am in now,” George told Marc Spears of The Undefeated. “But it wasn’t overstated. I wanted to play in L.A. That is where I wanted to go. Had that trade never went down, had I played one more year in Indy, I would have been in a Lakers uniform.”
George signed a four-year, $137 million deal with the Thunder when free agency opened July 1, refusing to even take a meeting with the Lakers.
The Thunder were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season, which led many to believe George would leave OKC and Russell Westbrook to possibly form a superteam with LeBron James in LA.
George, however, has stated how happy he is to play alongside Westbrook and believes this season will be a lot different for the Thunder.
“I kind of had my mind made up talking with the team, talking with Russ and talking with the front office,” George said. “I kind of felt good where we were at. Last (season), I didn’t get a chance to start with this team fresh. I got traded late. So, I picked up things late with the team. I wanted to get to it right away this time and start creating early.”
George and the Thunder dropped their season opener to the Golden State Warriors, but Westbrook didn’t play as he continues to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee.
