Paul George Informs Thunder He Will Become Free Agent

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:50 am

Paul George has informed the Oklahoma City Thunder will not opt into the final season of his contract at $20.7 million and he will become a free agent.

The move was widely expected.

George remains seriously interested in re-signing with the Thunder while the Los Angeles Lakers will also receive serious consideration.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets are interested in pursuing George.

Via Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN

Slacktard · Post #2 » by **Slacktard** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:45 pm

He has a free agency special with espn. Would have been pretty damn short if he didn't opt out

colaroaster · Post #3 » by **colaroaster** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 1:39 pm

too bad things didn't work-out in okc, that leaves westbrook stuck with melo

Dr Huge Pecs · Post #4 » by **Dr Huge Pecs** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 1:44 pm

He will be in LA with lebron. Kawhi will head east.

commentatorer · Post #5 » by **commentatorer** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:08 pm

colaroaster wrote:too bad things didn't work-out in okc, that leaves westbrook stuck with melo

Melo will play a lot better without George.

Franco · Post #6 » by **Franco** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:13 pm

commentatorer wrote:
colaroaster wrote:too bad things didn't work-out in okc, that leaves westbrook stuck with melo

Melo will play a lot better without George.

Probably not

commentatorer · Post #7 » by **commentatorer** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:15 pm

Franco wrote:
commentatorer wrote:
colaroaster wrote:too bad things didn't work-out in okc, that leaves westbrook stuck with melo

Melo will play a lot better without George.

Probably not

Melo will have twice as much freedom, probably 25ppg.
Lack of freedom was the problem, not lack of skill.

Franco · Post #8 » by **Franco** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:18 pm

commentatorer wrote:
Franco wrote:
commentatorer wrote:Melo will play a lot better without George.

Probably not

Melo will have twice as much freedom, probably 25ppg.
Lack of freedom was the problem, not lack of skill.

The last time Carmelo even hit 25ppg, the Warriors were getting bounced out in the first round (2014).

Was there too much "lack of freedom" on the Knicks the last 4 years too?

Donnyxc · Post #9 » by **Donnyxc** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:24 pm

Slacktard wrote:He has a free agency special with espn. Would have been pretty damn short if he didn't opt out

Lmao I was just thinking that. It's three days!

commentatorer · Post #10 » by **commentatorer** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:28 pm

Franco wrote:
commentatorer wrote:
Franco wrote:

Probably not

Melo will have twice as much freedom, probably 25ppg.
Lack of freedom was the problem, not lack of skill.

The last time Carmelo even hit 25ppg, the Warriors were getting bounced out in the first round (2014).

Was there too much "lack of freedom" on the Knicks the last 4 years too?

The Knicks were running the Triangle (or partially), not conducive to Melo's isolation.
Plus Westbrook may be hard to play with but he's also more helpful than anyone Melo had on the Knicks.

Franco · Post #11 » by **Franco** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 2:40 pm

commentatorer wrote:
Franco wrote:
commentatorer wrote:Melo will have twice as much freedom, probably 25ppg.
Lack of freedom was the problem, not lack of skill.

The last time Carmelo even hit 25ppg, the Warriors were getting bounced out in the first round (2014).

Was there too much "lack of freedom" on the Knicks the last 4 years too?

The Knicks were running the Triangle (or partially), not conducive to Melo's isolation.

Didn't refrain him from averaging 27 in 2014.

Plus Westbrook may be hard to play with but he's also more helpful than anyone Melo had on the Knicks.

Wait, so he's averaging less because he lacks freedom, but needs Westbrook of all people to help him get free?

commentatorer · Post #12 » by **commentatorer** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 3:09 pm

Franco wrote:
commentatorer wrote:
Franco wrote:
The last time Carmelo even hit 25ppg, the Warriors were getting bounced out in the first round (2014).

Was there too much "lack of freedom" on the Knicks the last 4 years too?

The Knicks were running the Triangle (or partially), not conducive to Melo's isolation.

Didn't refrain him from averaging 27 in 2014.

Plus Westbrook may be hard to play with but he's also more helpful than anyone Melo had on the Knicks.

Wait, so he's averaging less because he lacks freedom, but needs Westbrook of all people to help him get free?

He doesn't need Westbrook to get him free, he needs Westbrook to be the main focus of opposition defense.
Melo was always the main focus of opposition defense on the Knicks.
The freedom Melo lacked last season was because he was the 3rd scoring option, an impossible situation for an isolation specialist.
Melo and Westbrook is the perfect balance.
Melo, Westbrook and George was clearly not.
Its not like Durant, Curry and Thompson, as they are all very good off-the-ball.

Franco · Post #13 » by **Franco** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 3:28 pm

commentatorer wrote:
Franco wrote:
commentatorer wrote:The Knicks were running the Triangle (or partially), not conducive to Melo's isolation.

Didn't refrain him from averaging 27 in 2014.

Plus Westbrook may be hard to play with but he's also more helpful than anyone Melo had on the Knicks.

Wait, so he's averaging less because he lacks freedom, but needs Westbrook of all people to help him get free?

He doesn't need Westbrook to get him free, he needs Westbrook to be the main focus of opposition defense.
Melo was always the main focus of opposition defense on the Knicks.
The freedom Melo lacked last season was because he was the 3rd scoring option, an impossible situation for an isolation specialist.
Melo and Westbrook is the perfect balance.
Melo, Westbrook and George was clearly not.
Its not like Durant, Curry and Thompson, as they are all very good off-the-ball.

George isn't really ball-dominant.

But at this point I think we'll have to agree to disagree

we'll see during next season anyway

gordoncatrell · Post #14 » by **gordoncatrell** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 3:41 pm

PG. 2 options.
PlanA: okc
PlanB: LAC. LAL not an option

ChokeFasncists · Post #15 » by **ChokeFasncists** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:17 pm

colaroaster wrote:too bad things didn't work-out in okc, that leaves westbrook stuck with melo

PG is opting out but he might re-sign long term with OKC.

Pickled Prunes · Post #16 » by **Pickled Prunes** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:41 pm

ChokeFasncists wrote:
colaroaster wrote:too bad things didn't work-out in okc, that leaves westbrook stuck with melo

PG is opting out but he might re-sign long term with OKC.

Confidence waning!

Pickled Prunes · Post #17 » by **Pickled Prunes** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 8:02 pm

Franco wrote:
commentatorer wrote:
Franco wrote:
Didn't refrain him from averaging 27 in 2014.

Wait, so he's averaging less because he lacks freedom, but needs Westbrook of all people to help him get free?

He doesn't need Westbrook to get him free, he needs Westbrook to be the main focus of opposition defense.
Melo was always the main focus of opposition defense on the Knicks.
The freedom Melo lacked last season was because he was the 3rd scoring option, an impossible situation for an isolation specialist.
Melo and Westbrook is the perfect balance.
Melo, Westbrook and George was clearly not.
Its not like Durant, Curry and Thompson, as they are all very good off-the-ball.

George isn't really ball-dominant.

But at this point I think we'll have to agree to disagree we'll see during next season anyway

I agree with you both.

Melo will be better, assuming he comes in in shape... but likely not an efficient 25ppg better. But I guess somebody will need to score for them.

They could be better offensively just because the pecking order won't be an issue. Also, Russ won't mind being Russ at the expense of Melo touches the way he was with George.

There were also some redundancy in OKC's offense that will go away if George leaves. It was usually George or Melo involved in a play and not both. Often Melo was the 3rd wheel getting a late clock bailout pass. Melo will get more early touches with time to work. (A little more off-ball movement would help him a ton.) His efficiency should go up a bit.

The defense worries me more than the offense. Can Roberson be what they are paying him to be?

ChokeFasncists · Post #18 » by **ChokeFasncists** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:48 pm

Pickled Prunes wrote:
ChokeFasncists wrote:
colaroaster wrote:too bad things didn't work-out in okc, that leaves westbrook stuck with melo

PG is opting out but he might re-sign long term with OKC.

Confidence waning!

What?

Pickled Prunes · Post #19 » by **Pickled Prunes** » Fri Jun 29, 2018 1:07 am

ChokeFasncists wrote:
Pickled Prunes wrote:
ChokeFasncists wrote:PG is opting out but he might re-sign long term with OKC.

Confidence waning!

What?

(OKC's) confidence (is) waning.

ChokeFasncists · Post #20 » by **ChokeFasncists** » Fri Jun 29, 2018 1:41 am

Pickled Prunes wrote:
ChokeFasncists wrote:
Pickled Prunes wrote:Confidence waning!

What?

(OKC's) confidence (is) waning.

How come? What's going on?