Hello, offseason. The New York Knicks don’t have a pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, but they’ve still found a way to make noise the morning of the draft. With New York in pursuit of a star, attention has been turned to Paul George.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, “the Knicks and Clippers have had contact about a potential Paul George trade.” The 33-year-old has one full season left on his contract before having a $48.8 million player option for 2024-25.
New York trading for George would make sense given that he’s represented by the CAA and would be a valuable wing player in the starting lineup. Of course, though, with George, it all boils down to his health. He played in 56 games this past season for the Clippers and missed Los Angeles’ first-round playoff matchup against Phoenix with a knee sprain.
George will be entering his 14th season in the league, so Leon Rose and Co. have to be wary about giving up too much in return for a player that hasn’t played in more than 56 games since the 2018-19 season when he played in 77.
The Knicks and Clippers have had contact about a potential Paul George trade, per SNY sources. It is unknown if Clippers are willing to move George. @TheSteinLine reported earlier that Clips gave rival teams the impression that they were gauging George's trade value last week.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 22, 2023
Knicks and Clippers have reportedly discussed possibility of a Paul George trade
It’s worth noting that not only did Ian Begley include that it isn’t clear if the Clippers want to trade Paul George or not, but Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported on Thursday morning that he doesn’t expect LA to move George.
"There has certainly been talk of New York’s interest in acquiring George should the Clippers truly make him available, but Los Angeles has the intention to continue bolstering its roster around George and Kawhi Leonard — as evidenced by the team’s attempt to bring Brogdon into the fold."
The Clippers were in talks to acquire Malcolm Brogdon and that deal was on the verge of going through, but the Sixth Man of the Year’s health caused that trade to fall apart.
George and Kawhi Leonard teamed up in LA in 2019, and since then, the Clippers have made it to the Western Conference Finals one time in four years. That duo can be powerful when they’re on the court together, but that’s the catch. George and Leonard have dealt with their fair share of injuries, leading many to believe that LA will opt to trade George this offseason.
NBA insider Marc Stein (subscription required) reported earlier this week that the Clippers were giving thought to trading George and breaking up their star duo. There have been conflicting reports about whether or not LA is seriously interested in trading George, but New York has already emerged as a potential landing spot for the forward.
Will Paul George be traded to the Knicks (or another team) this offseason?
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