LA Clippers star Paul George to make debut on upcoming road trip
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, LA Clippers forward Paul George will make his team debut during LA’s upcoming road trip.
After an extensive rehab process, LA Clippers forward Paul George is ready to make his debut for his new team. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, he’ll make his return to the floor this week, either Wednesday against the Houston Rockets or Thursday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes also reported on the news, specifically stating that George will make his debut Thursday.
Either way, fans of the LA Clippers are in for a treat. Kawhi Leonard has done a fantastic job of carrying the team through their first 10 games, and now he’ll get the chance to team up with George sometime this week.
George was an MVP candidate last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and finished among the top three in voting. In 77 games, the two-way star averaged 28.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals while connecting on 38.6 percent of his looks from three-point range.
A stout defender, George was also a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year award last season as well. Along with Leonard and Patrick Beverley, they’ll make up what could be the best defensive trio in the league.
Debuting in New Orleans seems to make more sense for George and the Clippers. Leonard has yet to play both games of a back-to-back this season, and keeping him in the rotation against the Houston Rockets should give the Clippers a better shot at victory there.
New Orleans is a weaker team, so if Leonard does rest that game, George should be able to take on a decent chunk of the load so long as he gets proper help from key contributors like Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell and JaMychal Green.
It would be great to see Leonard and George on the floor together, but it doesn’t seem like that’ll be happening this week. The Clippers do host the Atlanta Hawks this Saturday, so assuming all goes according to plan, the duo could debut then.
George’s return will come at a perfect time for LA. The Clippers will host the Thunder next Monday, which means he’ll be ready to go against his former team. Clippers fans will get their first look at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari in their new uniforms, too.
From there, the Clippers have a difficult stretch of games to close the month that includes meetings with the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.
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The LA Clippers are less than a game back from being the top seed in the Western Conference. With George’s return, we’ll now finally be able to see what this team looks like at full strength.