Breaking: Paul George Reveals Why He Wanted To Leave Indiana. Was His Reason Fair?
Los Angeles Clippers star, Paul George, recently opened up on his tenure with the Indiana Pacers and revealed his reason as to why he felt it was time for a change in scenery. George explains that the reason he decided to leave Indiana was due to the direction the team was headed towards. In an Instagram live, Paul George states,
“I had, at the time, the best power forward saying he wanted to come to Indiana and team up with me. They like ‘we’re a small market, we can’t afford that’... I called my agent like ‘man, get me up out of here. They don’t want to win.”
Here is the rest of video.
The reality is that Indiana is one of the lowest marketed teams in the NBA, but it is also one of the most iconic. From Reggie Miller to Ron Artest, the Pacers have always constructed excellent playoff teams but could not build a contending or championship-level team. The closest that the Pacers were at winning a title was in 2000, where they faced Kobe and Shaq in the NBA finals and in 2004-05 season, where they had one of the best records and teams in the league before Malice at the Palace occurred. Indiana has been driven with lousy luck, but after hearing this news about a super-star teaming up with Paul George, one could only imagine that the Pacers could have been a title contender and here’s why!
During the Miami Heat dynasty, teams like the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls were nothing but a constant annoyance that Lebron James had to face. However, the Indiana Pacers were arguably the toughest team that the Heat had to face in the Eastern Conference. Indiana was looked at as a young team with a bright star in Paul George and was only a few years away from being title contenders. Unfortunately, this was not the case as the Pacers would deplete as an organization and, as a result, traded away Paul George for Victor Oladipo, and Domantas Sabonis. However, what if Indiana took the route of common sense and decided to take a chance at attaining the best power forward in the NBA?
July 6, 2017, would dawn the end of an era. Paul George would be traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder and, as a result, left the Pacers with a young core that can contend for a playoff spot in many years to come. However, during the 2016-17 NBA season, the top power forwards in the league included, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis. Having any of those players would have elevated Indiana’s chances from going from a playoff contender to a title contender. The fact that Indiana did not leap to sign one of those four players in free agency, especially if they had an interest in playing alongside Paul George, reveals that the front office of Indy may not have been as good. Even though Indiana has constructed great teams over the last 20 years, this signing could have been a game-changer for the franchise to a point where Paul George would have most likely have remained in Indiana.
Paul George has always loved playing and representing Indiana and has a special place in his heart. However, it makes sense as to why he decided that it was time to leave due to Indiana’s direction. Rather than signing another super-star to pair with Paul George, the organization felt that they were unable to afford such a signing, which indefinitely left George with no choice but to request a trade. But the question remains: Who was the power forward that had an interest in playing alongside Paul George?
In the video above, Paul George states that the best power forward in the NBA wanted to join the Indiana Pacers to contend for an NBA championship. As mentioned earlier, the top power forwards in the 2016-17 season were Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Draymond Green, and Anthony Davis. When looking at the top free agents of the 2017 NBA off-season, the top two forwards in that class were Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin. Considering that Durant has played for a low market organization in the past, him joining Paul George and the Indiana Pacers wouldn’t have been something out of the ordinary. Durant on the Brooklyn Nets is currently a power forward, so maybe Paul George was referencing Kevin Durant and not a natural power forward like Blake Griffin or LaMarcus Aldridge. But, it was later revealed that Durant had his eyes on the Warriors from the beginning even though it was a hard decision to make as he would be labelled as a traitor to Oklahoma and a player that ruined the balance of competition in the NBA. This means that the power forward that Paul George was most likely referencing was none other than Blake Griffin. Considering that LaMarcus Aldridge, Draymond Green, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis were still under contract, the player who was interested in playing alongside Paul George was Blake Griffin.
Blake in the 2017 off-season would sign a max-contract with the Los Angeles Clippers in hopes to continue to represent the organization but was later back-stabbed by the general manager and was traded to Detroit in exchange for Tobias Harris. During the free agency period, Blake Griffin took a bit of time to figure out what he wanted to do. With free agency starting on July 1, it took Blake 19 days to make his final decision in re-signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. This fact reveals that Blake was pushing to play in Indiana, considering how long he took. If he had his eyes set on Los Angeles, he would have immediately resigned, just like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant signed their deals with the Brooklyn Nets in only the first few free agency hours. With this evidence, the power forward that wanted to play in Indiana was most likely Blake Griffin, who was known as an injury-prone player who wished to receive a max-contract. Even though this is all speculations, Paul George states that this player wanted to SIGN with Indiana, which only means that this power forward was most likely Blake Griffin.
In the end, the duo of Blake Griffin and Paul George would have been something extraordinary to watch but would have also been tough to watch. Throughout both of their careers, Paul George and Blake Griffin have been injury-prone super-stars that tend to remain healthy when needed. Even though they would have had lesser pressure, Indiana would have still been regarded as a playoff contender and nothing else unless the team remained healthy. At first glance, Indiana may have lost out on a sensational talent, but when looking at both Paul George and Blake Griffin today, some might argue that the Indiana Pacers dodged a massive bullet. When healthy, both Blake and Paul are MVP calibre players; however, their health is what destroyed their chances of winning that award. This was a wise decision from Indiana’s perspective as they would have potentially signed a great player who would barely play for their organization due to his nagging injuries. Indiana currently has a much better situation and are only a few pieces away from becoming legit title contenders. At the same time, Paul George is in a position where he could win an NBA championship for many years.