When news that Paul George was being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder broke, the reactions from seemingly everybody were the same: “What?!” And then: “That’s all they got for him?!” Apparently, George was pretty surprised too, he told ESPN’s Royce Young:
“It was surprising. This team wasn’t one of the teams that we had in mind,” George said. “I thought I was going to four or five other teams that were pretty active in trade [talks]. When I found out it was OKC, I was quite surprised, but at the same time I was happy about the trade. I was thrilled, I was looking forward to it. All I wanted was a chance and an opportunity to play for something special and ultimately to try and win a championship, and right off the bat I think I can do that here playing alongside Russ [Russell Westbrook].”
George will be a free agent next summer, but didn’t exactly give a straight answer about what he’s thinking about his future:
“Right now, it’s taking it as it comes,” George said. “We have a fresh start, and a chance to do something special is really the first thing that comes to mind. I’m not looking past 2017-18, we haven’t accomplished nothing yet. When it comes to that, when I get there, we’ll address that, but right now me and [Westbrook] have something to build now, and we’ll see where it takes us. It could be something that’s special that we build and want to continue on building.”
George’s reported obsession with joining the Los Angeles Lakers next summer may mean that he’ll continue to give roundabout answers regarding his future with the Thunder.
