On this day in 2019, the Oklahoma City Thunder shocked the sports world when they shipped Paul George to the LA Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and a rich supply of draft capital.
The deal was one of the largest volumes of draft picks in league history. Five years later, it’s proven to be the launching point of the Thunder’s quick ascension into a title window.
This Clippers threw the Thunder a life vest. They stared down the barrel of being cornered with a roster that had three straight first-round exits in the playoffs. They turned that around for a lucrative amount of draft picks in the 2020s.
The original package of draft picks included the Clippers’ first-round pick in 2022, 2024, 2026 and swap rights in 2023 and 2025. OKC also acquired the Heat’s first-round pick in 2021 and 2023 with protections.
Meanwhile, the Clippers landed George and Kawhi Leonard within minutes of each other. This provided them with one of the best duos in the league with championship aspirations from the get-go.
A couple of draft cycles remain, but the results have been fantastic for the Thunder. They added Jalen Williams with LA’s 2022 first-round pick. While Tre Mann didn’t work out with the Thunder, his traded salary helped them land Isaiah Hartenstein.
For the Clippers, this past week officially saw them wave the white flag of the massive gamble. George departed LA and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.
In five seasons with the Clippers, his tenure peaked in 2021 when they reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.
But in total, it was an epic failure. LA only won three playoff series in five years. It hasn’t won a playoff series since 2021. Both George and Leonard have dealt with injuries to varying degrees.
It was a massive swing and miss by the Clippers to mortgage their future. The Thunder have reaped the benefits as two of their three best players were directly acquired from LA’s work.
The Clippers are now on the downturn and stuck with an old, expensive roster that has no honest shot of a deep playoff run. Meanwhile, the Thunder are in the infancy stages of a title window.
