There is no doubting that the LA Clippers had an extremely interesting offseason. The drama of the Paul George situation had been brewing for months, and it came to a boiling point leading up to the start of the free agency period.
Of course, George had been one of the main backbones of this Clippers team for five seasons, and the duo of he and Kawhi Leonard was the main reason LA was looked at as a consistent threat to win a championship in the Western Conference. The prospect of losing him was not an exciting idea, but it was a very realistic possibility.
As Paul himself would explain, negotiations with the Clippers' front office ultimately led to his departure from the team. PG desired a certain contract that LA's front office took a while to offer him, and by then, George had other stipulations he desired on a deal before he would agree to an extension. When those terms were not offered, PG opted to skip town.
Former Clippers guard Patrick Beverley recently revealed that he guessed this scenario would unfold. Perhaps not in the exact way that it actually came about, but he revealed that he saw George leaving before the season was over.
Pat Bev knew the Clippers would lose Paul George
Appearing on his podcast, Pat Bev made a direct comparison between the New York Knicks' current situation with Julius Randle and how the Clippers ended up losing Paul George. "When you sign all those guys at that size, at his position, I mean, the writing is on the wall," Beverley said. "When the Clippers got James Harden, I knew Paul George would be out of there. I mean, one plus one is two."
As a former Clipper, it is far from surprising that Pat would get this right, and he hits the nail on the head with this comparison. Of course Paul George and Julius Randle play a different style. That much is obvious. But when it comes to the additions of guys who can bring similar skills to the roster, both the Clippers and the Knicks have made the same kind of moves with respect to their stars.
James Harden may not be a duplicate of Paul George, but the point is that he can create off the dribble and add value with playmaking as well. It is hard to think that when the Clippers thought to bring Harden in, they did not think for a second that he could provide some insurance should Paul George be on the outside looking in the following summer.