I like Paul George's game but he won't even come close to being a top 10 player. All-Star type talent but definitely not "the guy" you can build around and contend for a championship.
Adding to it, George is already a superstar defender, let's see how the best players at his position fared against him head to head?
Included on the list are the "star" Small forwards most bandied about in list wars, as well as the premier shooting guards that George matched up against (George is often put on the opponents greatest perimeter threat be he a 1 a 2 or a 3 (and sometimes even a four in the case of Anthony and Josh Smith) Almost unanimously George has held the best swingman in the NBA that he's gone head to head against to
absolutely miserable shooting nights by their standards, and most of the time he's doubled that up by having a better game than them offensively as well. George is one of only 2 players (James, with Durant just barely missing out on rpg) who is top 20 in ppg top 30 in rpg, top 40 in apg and top 40 in 3 point % (though the list doesn't get any bigger even if you throw 3pt% out) he's also top 10 in SPG. His raw stats are already very good, especially when you take in to account his slow start and complete transformation post-november, but the stats alone don't account for his elite, top tier defense, even against the biggest stars at the 2 and 3 positions.
Carmelo Anthony 2 games
20.5 ppg 7.5 rpg .5 apg .372 % from the field
George-
23.5 ppg 5.5 rpg 3 apg .500 % from the field
LeBron James 2 games
25 ppg 8 rpg 3.5 apg .513% from the field 5 turnovers per game
Paul George-
22 ppg 8.5 rpg 4 apg .474 from the field 1.5 turnovers per game
Rudy Gay 3 games-
16 ppg 5.3 rpg 2.66 apg .297 from the field
Paul George -
19.3 ppg 10 rpg 6.3 apg .417 from the field
James Harden 1 game -
17 ppg 5 rpg 7 apg .263 from the field
Paul George-
31 ppg 6 rpg 3 apg .578 from the field 5 steals
Kevin Durant 1 game -
27 ppg 8 rpg 4 apg .375 from the field
Paul George-
17 ppg 8 rpg 3 apg .333 from the field
Nic Batum 2 games-
7.5 ppg 2.5 rpg 6 apg .333 from the field
Paul George-
22 ppg 7.5 rpg 3.5 apg .441 from the field
Luol Deng 2 games-
15 ppg 6.5 rpg 2.5 apg .272 from the field
Paul George -
27.5 ppg 10 rpg 3.5 apg .512 from the field
Andre Iguoldala 2 games-
11.5 ppg 5 rpg 4.5 apg .343 from the field
Paul George-
22.5 ppg 8 rpg 5.5 apg .562 from the field
Josh Smith 2 games -
10 ppg 7.5 rpg 3.5 apg .375 from the field
Paul George-
21 ppg 6 rpg 3 apg .406 from the field
Kobe Bryant 1 game-
40 ppg 10 rpg 3 apg 10 turnovers per game .426 from the field
Paul George-
12 ppg 9 rpg 2 apg .384 from the field
I think that covers most of the "marquee" guys that George has guarded, George's value isn't just in being a good scorer, elite rebounder and passer for his position, it's also that he's one of the only guys in the NBA who can legitimately limit the production of the players of a caliber listed above.
George absolutely has superstar potential, he has the ability to be in that conversation sooner rather than later.
He's already a superstar on the defensive end, unless forcing elite players into terrible games routinely, leading the NBA in defensive win shares and being top 5 in the NBA in personal DRTG means something else than I understand entirely.