Thunder land George in trade with Pacers
The Oklahoma City Thunder have acquired All Star forward Paul George in a trade with the Indiana Pacers, several news outlets reported on Friday.
The Thunder are expected to send guard Victor Oladipo and forward Domantas Sabonis to the Pacers as a part of the deal.
George has been the talk of trade rumors for the past couple of weeks after he informed the Pacers he was not re-signing and planned to become a free agent when his contract was up next summer.
The Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets had all been rumored as possible destinations for the 27-year-old, who will now team up with league MVP Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.
George averaged 23.7 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Pacers, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
The Thunder was also knocked out of the opening round of the postseason after a campaign that saw Westbrook average the first triple double for a complete season since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62.
In other NBA news, Stephen Curry has agreed to a record five-year, $201 million ‘super-max’ deal to stay at the Golden State Warriors, according to several reports on Friday.
The deal came immediately after the NBA’s free agency period began and was done under the league’s designated veteran player extension.
Under the new designation, which was added to the current collective bargaining agreement, Curry was eligible for the lucrative deal since he won at least one MVP award in the last three seasons.
The 29-year-old has claimed the MVP honor in two of the last three seasons while helping the Warriors to two NBA titles.
The reports said the Warriors paid Curry $12.1 million last season in the final season of a four-year deal worth approximately $44 million signed after the 2012-13 season.
Curry averaged 25.3 points and shot 41.1 percent from three-point range last season while teaming up with new addition Kevin Durant and ultimately cruising to a championship.
Meanwhile, The Los Angeles Clippers have reached an agreement with forward Blake Griffin for a five-year, $173 million deal, according to The Vertical’s Shams Charania. The Oklahoma City native and former University of Oklahoma star was scheduled to meet with the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets once NBA free agency began midnight Saturday.
However, Griffin met with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, coach Doc Rivers and new consultant Jerry West on Friday night. Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported that Griffin was impressed with their presentation and finalized an agreement with them afterward.
The Clippers faced an added sense of urgency in re-signing Griffin after All-Star point guard Chris Paul forced a sign-and-trade from the Clippers to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
The agreement was made minutes before the Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Indiana Pacers forward Paul George in a trade. With Griffin re-signing and George traded to OKC, two available superstars are no longer available hours before the start of free agency.