The Boston Celtics may have just walked into the same Paul George trap that once left the LA Clippers overmatched and the Oklahoma City Thunder sitting on a mountain of assets.
This time, Boston sent Jaylen Brown out the door for a 36-year-old George, along with two first-round picks and two second-rounders. That means one of the league’s best players went out for a package centered on a player who is now viewed as a negative asset.
It’s a familiar kind of deal if you’ve been around the Paul George trade cycle long enough. The Thunder once landed George from the Clippers and turned that move into a franchise-altering haul: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks, and one first-round pick swap.
At the time, SGA was not yet the player he is now. He is now the two-time reigning MVP, a Finals MVP, and the guy who brought a championship to OKC. Back then, though, the picture wasn’t nearly as clear.
The draft capital mattered just as much. Oklahoma City used the pick equity to reshape its future, and one of those selections eventually became Jalen Williams, while another helped lead to more players who never actually wound up in OKC after that pick was moved, including Jaime Jaquez Jr.
George never delivered a championship in Los Angeles, and the Clippers were the ones left with the short end of the deal. It was a lopsided trade then, and it looks even worse now.
Seven years later, Boston is the team on the wrong side of it. The Celtics are the new Clippers, while the Philadelphia 76ers are playing the Thunder role - the team that cashes in George for a massive return.
In this version, the Sixers turned an aging George on a bad contract into Brown, who is in the prime of his All-NBA career. That’s the kind of return that can change the direction of a franchise.
For the second time, George has been the centerpiece of a deal that delivered an enormous haul. First it was Presti and the Thunder taking advantage.
Now it’s the Sixers. And Brad Stevens is the one left staring at another Paul George trade that could shape an organization for years.
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That timeline does little to ease the broader concern, especially with Chet Holmgren among the big men who have missed time and left Oklahoma City leaning harder on what it can trust inside. It is a reminder of why Isaiah Hartenstein became such a central piece of the offseason plan, with the Thunder clearly valuing the security he brings to a group that has already had to absorb too many frontcourt variables. [Read more 🡒]