Paul George has opted out of his player option for next season, ending the Golden State Warriors‘ chances of acquiring him via trade. The Warriors had been heavily linked with the All-Star forward and had reportedly extended multiple options for a potential trade package. Trading for George would likely have ended Klay Thompson’s tenure in the Bay Area.
Thompson is entering unrestricted free agency on June 30, and currently, it looks like his time with Golden State has reached an end. He has multiple interested teams from around the NBA. Interestingly, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were “100% on board” with Golden State’s pursuit of George, as The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami reported.
“The Warriors had agreed to give George a max, four-year extension upon arrival. They believed they had proposed several variations of a trade that the Clippers could and would accept,” Kawakami reported. “Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were 100 percent on board. George gave strong indications he wanted to join the Warriors. But the Clippers never agreed to any version of a trade, and now George is a free agent and essentially beyond the Warriors’ reach.”
With George now off the table for Golden State, they must begin exploring their options; of course, that could also mean retaining Thompson and running it back with their championship-winning core, although that’s looking increasingly unlikely.
Whatever the Warriors decide to do, they must approach this summer with the mindset of improving the roster and piecing together a contending roster. George would have been the ideal addition. Now, the front office must pinpoint another target and move swiftly.
