Paul George is following through on his promises so far for the LA Clippers.
Entering the season for the LA Clippers, there were a lot of expectations for Paul George. The All-Star was entering the second year of his tenure in Los Angeles following a disappointing playoff performance which saw him getting a ton of flack from media and fans alike.
To add to those expectations, the Clippers extended George’s contract, keeping him in Los Angeles for the long term. Several fans, having just seen him fail in the postseason, weren’t all too thrilled about the signing. Many of us (myself included), were happy with the signing though, and felt that PG could perform much better than last year’s play showed.
George also believed that, doubling down on his talent and telling anyone that would listen that they could expect a better year out of him. George cited him entering the offseason healthy as one of the bigger factors as it enabled him to not only work on his own game but to also see the court early with his teammates. George guaranteed that he would be better this season.
Through six games, that seems to be exactly what is happening.
George’s stats (albeit from a small sample size) are all up this year. Look at last year’s numbers compared to this year:
- 2019-20: 21.5 points, 43.9 FG%, 41.2 3P%, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.4 blocks
- 2020-21: 22.8 points, 47.9 FG%, 45.1 3P%, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.5 blocks
Again, obviously, a smaller sample size means these numbers could drop but if you have been watching the Clippers, you can see that he looks more comfortable so far this season. Even during games where he cannot hit from the field, such as Friday’s loss to Utah, George has found ways to impact the game.
The biggest number that jumps out, though, is his increase in assists. Ty Lue’s new system has made the team as a whole a lot better at passing the ball but PG seems to have benefitted the most so far. Granted, there is a bit of a learning curve for George, who has also seen his turnovers increase from 2.6 per game last year to 4.5 this year.
While that will have to decrease, there has been a league-wide increase in turnovers this season so far and the Clippers are currently just sixth in team turnovers. The decrease in turnovers will happen for both the team and George, so let’s just ignore some obvious growing pains for the time being.
George may not be playing at the level he was when he finished third in MVP voting two years ago but there has been obvious improvement and the team is benefitting from that. If he can keep this output up all season, the Clippers giving him the contract extension will be something all fans can agree was a great idea.