The Golden State Warriors nearly landed a superstar through a trade this past offseason.
The Golden State Warriors, despite losing Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason, have been scorching hot to begin the NBA season. This comes as Stephen Curry has missed some time with an injury, too.
They were able to add some depth to their roster this past offseason, which has helped head coach Steve Kerr build a scheme that allows everybody on the hardwood to thrive.
Surprisingly, the Warriors have been among the best teams in the NBA, and Curry is returning to the hardwood following a slight ankle injury. They could have had even more star power alongside their depth, had they executed a trade they held discussions over this offseason.
The offseason is nearly as anticipated as the regular season in the NBA world — player movement is rapid and both free agency and trades are a frenzy in the summer. The Warriors, in particular, got aggressive in an attempt to build a contending squad around Curry.
One trade the Warriors attempted was trying to secure Paul George from the LA Clippers. The superstar forward was a free agent, though the two sides had discussion regarding a sign-and-trade. ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk revealed details about the trade that never came together.
“The Clippers were willing to make a deal with their division rival, according to sources, but were looking for something of value to help restock their asset cupboard if they were going to take back an undesirable contract and be in the second apron,” Youngmisuk reported.
Outside of matching a contract, the Clippers wanted draft capital and a young potential star to ensure they had a long-term future.
“Swapping George for Andrew Wiggins, who has three years and $85 million left on a four-year, $109 million deal, plus other salaries to make the math work, would have been acceptable only if the Clippers received a young player such as Jonathan Kuminga or Brandin Podziemski and a pick or two,” Youngmisuk continued.
A couple of picks and a young player would have helped the Clippers begin to shift toward the future with two older, injury-prone stars leading their team.
Instead of the Warriors meeting the Clippers’ needs or LA receiving young assets to pivot to a rebuild if need be, George left for free in free agency. He joined the Philadelphia 76ers to receive his desired contract while having a window to continue to compete for championships.
With Philadelphia off to a 1-5 start to the new season, Paul George did the club no favors in his lone appearance with the team. He scored just 15 points while shooting 4-of-14 from the field.
Not only did he struggle, but George missed a game-tying shot at the end of the fourth quarter to end up suffering a 118-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
“I’ll watch the film of the game, and I’ll be able to do my normal recovery,” George said after the defeat. “I felt great. My wind and my conditioning were better than expected. There were times that I was tired. There were times that I was gassed. But I wanted to play through it, because I wanted to build my endurance. I wasn’t supposed to play 31 minutes, but I wanted to play 31 minutes, if you know what I mean.”
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