PRIORITY NO. 1
Week out west shows keeping Paul George remains a must
LOS ANGELES — Back when Steven Adams played against Paul George instead of with him, he didn’t have much of an opinion on the All-Star.
Scouting reports and film can only do so much. They don’t prepare you for a player’s improvisational skills or, even more revelatory, how much effort goes into the parts of the game outside of scoring.
Those are the traits front offices get paid to detect and dissect. Adams might not have known, but the Thunder knew what it was getting into with George.
“I thought he was just a good player before we got him, but that happens a lot,” Adams said Thursday after the Thunder’s loss to the Lakers. “You don’t realize the value of a player until you actually play with them.”
If there was question as to how valuable George was before this week, it was put to rest on the West Coast in games against the Warriors and Lakers. Regardless of the Thunder’s final outcome, keeping George
has become the reason for the season.
George, 27, is still rising. He’s the only player in the NBA this season averaging 20 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals per game while shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range. In a season in which San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and Utah’s Rudy Gobert have missed 73 games combined, Andre Roberson suffered a season-ending knee injury, and Kevin Durant has overshadowed teammate Draymond Green defensively, George is making a strong case for Defensive Player of the Year and All-NBA honors.
He’s strengthened his case against the best teams in the league, averaging 2.1 steals in games against Golden State, Toronto, Cleveland, Houston and San Antonio. The Thunder is 6-2 against those teams, with George added 35.2 points per game and 47.1 percent 3-point shooting in those matchups.
George had six steals against Golden State.
“I’m a competitor. I compete,” George said. “It’s me being fearless, taking the challenge, trying to do whatever I can to help my team.”
The Thunder and others are doing whatever they can to help George feel at home.
What started with an introductory party in downtown Oklahoma City in July after George’s trade has developed into a yearlong recruitment. The Thunder has done so with its family feel and its cache of starting lineup talent — with Westbrook at the center, meshing on the court and supporting George’s claims of a “brotherhood” off the court.
The Lakers and their fan base have serenaded the free-agent-to-be and his family in the two times the Thunder’s been in L.A. It’s no coincidence George’s parents get showered with love at Lakers’ games, where Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig was among the long line of luminaries posing for photos courtside with Paul Sr. and Paulette on Thursday.
The chase is warranted. It’s why the Thunder is willing to take risks on young, upside wing players like Jerami Grant and Josh Huestis walking this summer as unrestricted free agents. Signing Grant and Huestis above minimum deals could potentially take a $24.5 million luxury tax bill to astronomical heights the following season. The Thunder likes both players, but George is priority No. 1.
Carmelo Anthony, equipped with a no-trade clause, won’t be worth the $28.5 million player option he’s set to collect next season — money he’s not likely to pass up at 34. That contract alone makes the Thunder a team above the $119.2 million luxury tax line.
It all has to be taken into account because George is envisioned as a core piece alongside Adams and Westbrook, who are signed through 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Adams is still rising as a player.
There’s belief inside the Thunder organization that Westbrook, 29, is still getting better as well.
George is a certainty, among the best allaround players in the NBA, standing out among even the Thunder’s flits of consistency.
It’s clear as day to Adams.
“I didn’t think much of him, just that he was a main guy on another team, but my opinion completely changed once he got here,” Adams said. “I realized really how aware (he is) and how much he cares about both sides of the floor, which is really rare in this league. (He’s a) good man.”