According to one of Adrian Wojnarowski’s many sources before trading Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder a few weeks ago, the Pacers reached out to the Golden State Warriors and offered George for Klay Thompson.
The Pacers reportedly offered Paul George for Klay Thompson, but the Warriors declined the trade. (via @wojespn) pic.twitter.com/f8nZCTF4ZC
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 13, 2017
Holy Cow Batman that would have been an earth-shattering trade, also a very foolish trade for the Warriors though, as Klay Thompson is one of the better defenders and catch-and-shoot players in the NBA and fits like a glove as a third offensive star alongside Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.
George told Wojnarowski in an interview on Sportscenter that he was aware of the offer the Pacers made to the Warriors:
“I would’ve looked forward to it, of just being in a good situation and a chance to compete for a championship,” he told Wojnarowski. “But it didn’t happen. It’s still fun to team up with a special talent and have a chance to compete against that team.”
George also compared the hypothetical trade to the Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Lakers that was shot down by the league in 2011.
“Yeah, I think that would’ve been the Chris Paul-to-L.A. situation where they denied that trade,” George said.
While you have to respect George’s candidness in the situation and his confidence in himself like an NBA star, let’s be honest, Klay Thompson is a more valuable player in the NBA and way more valuable for this all-time great Warriors team.
This trade would have been far from the Chris Paul to the Lakers situation, that would be more like Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala to the Pacers for George potentially.
While this was clearly worth a shot in the dark for the Pacers to get a superstar back of equal (or greater in my opinion) value in Klay Thompson for Paul George, there is absolutely no way the Warriors would have done this deal or even done anything more than say no thank you and hang up.
