Yeah I agree with @svtzr as well. PG isn't a 1st tier star that can dominate games on a nightly basis, but he's a reliable 21-23 ppg scorer. He's the pinnacle of what we call a 3&D wing. He's good enough to make us relevant, and that's all we can ask for while we wait for our kids to develop.
I remember reading on realgm how Minn fans didnt think butler was worth giving up lavine, that lavine was going to be much better than butler n he was overratted, etc. Now they cant imagine where they'd be w/o him lol
Wait, what is this nonsense narrative that Paul George isn't a top tier player? My goodness the ebbs and flows of the season... On one hand George is the guy who launches this team to 50 wins and the next, he's not a 1st tier star and just a 3&D wing. Paul George doesn't have a great record hitting game winners. That's true. He does however dominate 4th quarters and is one of the most clutch players in the game in the last 5 minutes. Nobody would confuse Paul George for Kobe Bryant in the clutch, but he's no slouch either when the game is on the line. Spoiler: NSFW language https://8points9seconds.com/2017/01/04/paul-george-clutch/ https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2017/04/17/how-clutch-paul-george/100570384/ Paul George this season is 21st in ORtg in the clutch. Doesn't sound impressive I know, but he's only two slots lower than Westbrook, 8 spots higher than Lillard, 10 spots higher than DeRozan, 15 spots higher than Beal, and there's no Lakers even in the top 50 among players who've played 35 games. He averages more points than anyone on our team, more steals than anyone on our team, with Nance gone he'd be 4th in rebounds on our team, 4th in assists if you count Thomas, tied for 5th in blocks, he'd be tied with Lonzo as the best Drtg on the team (not counting Larry who is gone and Bogut who played barely played). He would be 1st in Win Shares, nearly double our current leader in VORP (Pope at 1.8), his BPM would be 1st now that Larry is gone (Larry's BPM was great at 3.7), he'd be 3rd in TS% behind just Julius and Hart (Channing Frye is a hilarious 1.167 TS% right now since he's only played 18 minutes for us). He's 4th in made 3s, he's 9th in minutes played which we could desperately use. He's 18th in PPG, but is capable of the Top 10 when he's "the man". Paul George would transform our team by himself. It was not long ago that George was leading the Pacers with Roy effing Hibbert to the ECF. Then after an injury he came back and pushed Toronto to 7 games with George Hill as his second best player. Last season in the playoffs his team might have gotten swept, but he played phenomenally in the playoffs averaging 28 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.8 steals and playing 43 minutes a game. The only other people to have Playoff averages like that are: LeBron James (4 times), Oscar Robertson (3 times), and Russell Westbrook. Let's try not to sell the man short. We have no one with his talent on our team right now and would be absolutely lucky to have him.
I was just about to chime in on this. Thanks for saving me a rant. You add George to the current group next season and I honestly put us in the playoffs. Another year under the belts of our young guys and legit top talent like George and we instantly hit the next level.
Thanks real, couldn’t believe what I was seeing here. We win 30 games and suddenly we don’t need this overrated guy, uh ok. Dude is just about to turn 28 and enter his prime, he recovered fully from a gruesome injury, he is a star, I’d give him max in a second. He takes us from lottery to playoffs. Even if he’s a 2nd guy on a title team, you have to start somewhere.
I didn't reply because I'd like to see if he'll do what he does best in the playoffs or of how much progress we'll have when we land him. Let the result do the talking. Then I'll go back to the previous posts. Or the fact that everything I'll say will be moot if we strike out in FA. Although. PG isn't PG if he doesn't give you at least a couple of weeks straight of frustration and disappointment in the regular season if he becomes a Laker. It's his trademark. It's annoying AF. I've seen it in 5-6 seasons. I can imagine the feeling will be 100x worse when he does it to us. Flip side of it? I still have to see him struggle in the playoffs. In a single game, maybe. But in a series? None that I can recall. Sent from my E6533 using Tapatalk
George is someone I would call a star. Not a superstar. And that’s okay, gotta start somewhere - and we would be lucky to have him. Playoff George is a beast, but regular season George can be polarising - ask any fan base he has played for. Everyone can see he can do more but he just goes through hot and cold patches, acts uninterested, and he isn’t overly consistent. Also he isn’t a top tier scorer in this league, but defensively he is top tier for sure. Lastly, I fault his 4th quarter performance at times, he just doesn’t take over like he does in the playoffs. Even that statistic 50/105 shots. Pacers had one of the highest amount of close games in the 16/17 season, they weren’t a great team. So that stat was bumped up due to him being in that situation so often. Still he needed to be taking more shots than the 105 that he took.
Real: solid post fellow noveler! He's definitely not overrated and would be the best player we had since Kob. When you consider how he played next to Roberson and how that OKC defense looked, think of pairing him on the wing next to the active hands of Zo and the Kraken arms of BI. I love Jules's man D, but could you imagine a legit rim protector back there with these dudes on the perimeter. Which is why I think AD would be a solid fit back there, but that's another discussion after hitting the pipe. @svtzr Totally agree! Which is why I don't really think he deserves the max. He's got all the talent to be a superstar, but just the wrong environment/opportunity. Maybe he becomes one here cause he still has his prime years coming up. I really do hope George attempts to make room to fit in fellow Mintz client, Jules. But after striking out multiple times in free agency, beggars can't be choosers.
All of this is completely arbitrary in my opinion and I hope that doesn't sound mean, but it's just drawing lines in the sand that don't need to be drawn. What makes someone a star and not a superstar? A megastar? Paul George is a Gold Medal Olympian, a 5x All-Star, has his own shoe designs, and is making the maximum amount an NBA player can make. He has sponsorships from Gatorade, Nike, and NBA 2K. Paul George moves the needle in every way. That is 100% a superstar. He might need to be the 2nd best player on a championship team, but who cares? That doesn't mean he's not a superstar. Pau Gasol is a superstar. Chris Paul is a superstar. Damian Lillard is a superstar. There's just no reason to distinguish between them and try to drag Paul George down in that way. If he got here, he's immediately a superstar on a level we haven't had since Kobe retired and it's not close. As for holding his fourth quarter stats against him, I don't understand why his volume would be a problem. He shot well in those situations. That would be like saying Kuzma's shooting isn't impressive this season because he's not in the Top 20 of three pointers made.
I understand that. I just got a feeling he will be ours. I've gone back and forth in confidence on it, but Magic and Rob seem to be off to a good start and there's been smoke on this forever. We will see though.
1. Are you arguing that PG is a 1st tier star? A player that is constantly a MVP consideration year in and year out? Nope, he isn't Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, or Kawhi Leonard. He is CLEARLY a tier below those players. I mean, he missed the allstar team this year IN HIS PRIME. Sorry but that is not a 1st tier star. 2. Where did I say that he's "just a 3&D wing." You gotta quote accurately man... I said he's "the pinnacle of what we call a 3&D wing." Pinnacle as in the highest level or peak. He's what all 3&D wings aspire to be. That is no slight. We need both 3 and D on our team which makes him a perfect fit, precisely why I want him on this team. Having said that, I think Ingram will surpass PG by the time his contract is up.
Your spot on, I was referring to the hand full of players yearly that really dominate which George isn’t apart of. But that’s semantics and not necessary to be discussed. My point is I just don’t want people to have this misconception that your getting an offensive force or an elite closer or a Kobe hunger to win at all costs type of guy in the regular season. For whatever reason that isn’t George, he becomes that guy in the playoffs though. Which is partly why he isn’t rated in the top 10 players in the league as his talent rightfully deserves. In regards to volume; it’s one of the parts about George that frustrates me. In 4th quarters whether it’s pacers or thunder, he can be content at times to only take a couple of shots. He goes missing. That’s gotta be frustrating for a team. You have Raymond Felton and Jerami Grant taking more shots some games, with PG just not getting involved. I dunno who mentioned it here, but there was a theory that George coasts the regular season due to not wanting to injure himself again to the point he did and in the playoffs he unleashes. I can see that.
I would take him because it signals the Lakers are back and finally interesting for superstars. But it is clear that while George is a star, he is not a superstar and not a franchise player.
1. I made it clear what I view him as and trying to take something out of George by saying he's not LeBron is nonsensical. Lillard isn't LeBron, I guess he's not that big a deal? Klay Thompson isn't LeBron, I guess he's not that big a deal? What's strange to me is there's literally no one on our team even close to Paul George let alone LeBron or Durant, but we're going to draw lines in the sand about his effectiveness or what he would mean to the team? You know who else didn't make the All-Star game? Chris Paul. Damn. He must be limited. 2. I didn't quote you because you're not the only one who said something like that, but your sentence is complete semantics. Pinnacle of a 3 & D player is still just a 3 & D player. Pinnacle of a role player is still just a role player. The best employee at Starbucks is still just an employee at Starbucks. It's all semantics and it's wrong. Paul George is far more than 3 & D player. He's a multi time All-Star, an Olympian, and a complete stud on the court. Your post and others trying to bust him down and make him sound less valuable just don't make any sense. You want him here as a complimentary piece to our players as if he's Andre Iguodala or something. Paul George would immediately be our best player.
