Paul George Didn't Want To Want To Waste Lakers' Time In Free Agency

[RealGM Wiretap]

Paul George said the Los Angeles Lakers were upset with him for not taking a meeting with them in free agency.

George was strongly linked to the Lakers for more than a year but he decided to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder even before the start of free agency.

"L.A. was pissed at me," he said on the Short Story Long podcast. "I didn't give Magic [Johnson] a meeting, which I understand. But at that point, I knew I wanted to give it another shot [in Oklahoma City]. I didn't want to prolong it and waste people's time."

George announced his decision at a house party in Oklahoma hosted by Russell Westbrook. George also posted a photo that night of him and Westbrook on Instagram with the caption "Unfinished business."

"Coming down to free agency, I didn't want to waste any time," George said on the podcast. "I wanted to give it another shot. I gave them one year. We played well against the best teams. I wanted to give it a real shot."

Via ESPN

[Hoopzilla]

Lebron's decision was made very quickly. Since he had no interest in playing with Lebron, that made PG's decision simple. You could say Lebron made the decision for him...

[GQ Hot Dog]

I wonder what George's choice would have been if he had played great in the playoffs and carried Westbrook instead of the other way around?

[JellosJigglin]

Lebron's decision was made very quickly. Since he had no interest in playing with Lebron, that made PG's decision simple. You could say Lebron made the decision for him...

I don't think that was it imo. PG isn't an alpha, he would've played fine with Lebron. OKC just made it their mission to stay in PG's ear all offseason. Their owner admitted their goal was to lock him in before he even had a chance to meet with Magic Johnson. They know Magic has a powerful influence in meetings. Plus his agent, Mintz, has a decade long grudge against the Lakers' GM Rob Pelinka that goes back to his days as an agent. So between OKC front office, his agent Mintz, and Westbrook, George was getting a lot of pressure from one side. Good for them.

Personally I'd still take the meeting with Magic, because as a player you only get to be a free agent a few times in your career. If I were an agent I'd tell my player the same thing. Always take the meeting. It's just the smart business move. Anyway all parties have moved on. Looking forward to the season.

[Raps in 4]

Kawhi is going to do the same.

[sonictecture]

Lebron's decision was made very quickly. Since he had no interest in playing with Lebron, that made PG's decision simple. You could say Lebron made the decision for him...

I don't think that was it imo. PG isn't an alpha, he would've played fine with Lebron. OKC just made it their mission to stay in PG's ear all offseason. Their owner admitted their goal was to lock him in before he even had a chance to meet with Magic Johnson. They know Magic has a powerful influence in meetings. Plus his agent, Mintz, has a decade long grudge against the Lakers' GM Rob Pelinka that goes back to his days as an agent. So between OKC front office, his agent Mintz, and Westbrook, George was getting a lot of pressure from one side. Good for them.

Personally I'd still take the meeting with Magic, because as a player you only get to be a free agent a few times in your career. If I were an agent I'd tell my player the same thing. Always take the meeting. It's just the smart business move. Anyway all parties have moved on. Looking forward to the season.

Do you think that if George had met with Magic that the outcome would have been different?

Why didn't Magic get a meeting with KD?

[Tiesto_Lakers]

6 points in an elimination game.

You aint LeBron, brother.

[ChokeFasncists]

Lebron's decision was made very quickly. Since he had no interest in playing with Lebron, that made PG's decision simple. You could say Lebron made the decision for him...

I don't think that was it imo. PG isn't an alpha, he would've played fine with Lebron. OKC just made it their mission to stay in PG's ear all offseason. Their owner admitted their goal was to lock him in before he even had a chance to meet with Magic Johnson. They know Magic has a powerful influence in meetings. Plus his agent, Mintz, has a decade long grudge against the Lakers' GM Rob Pelinka that goes back to his days as an agent. So between OKC front office, his agent Mintz, and Westbrook, George was getting a lot of pressure from one side. Good for them.

Personally I'd still take the meeting with Magic, because as a player you only get to be a free agent a few times in your career. If I were an agent I'd tell my player the same thing. Always take the meeting. It's just the smart business move. Anyway all parties have moved on. Looking forward to the season.

Not to mention he makes more money staying.

OP: Lets see how the unfinished business's gonna turn out. No more excuses.

[Tofubeque]

Lebron's decision was made very quickly. Since he had no interest in playing with Lebron, that made PG's decision simple. You could say Lebron made the decision for him...

I don't think that was it imo. PG isn't an alpha, he would've played fine with Lebron. OKC just made it their mission to stay in PG's ear all offseason. Their owner admitted their goal was to lock him in before he even had a chance to meet with Magic Johnson. They know Magic has a powerful influence in meetings. Plus his agent, Mintz, has a decade long grudge against the Lakers' GM Rob Pelinka that goes back to his days as an agent. So between OKC front office, his agent Mintz, and Westbrook, George was getting a lot of pressure from one side. Good for them.

Personally I'd still take the meeting with Magic, because as a player you only get to be a free agent a few times in your career. If I were an agent I'd tell my player the same thing. Always take the meeting. It's just the smart business move. Anyway all parties have moved on. Looking forward to the season.

Damn. It'd be delicious if hiring a top-dog agent as your GM ends up hurting the Lakers in the long run.

[Donnyxc]

Like this guys attitude.

[madmaxmedia]

Personally I'd still take the meeting with Magic, because as a player you only get to be a free agent a few times in your career. If I were an agent I'd tell my player the same thing. Always take the meeting. It's just the smart business move. Anyway all parties have moved on. Looking forward to the season.

Certainly that's a good rule of thumb, and I think many players approach their upcoming free agency with that intent. I think for lesser stature players it especially applies, as you need to carefully assess different situations and potential fits, a bad fit may derail your career.

But PG is set for life regardless, and he already felt/knew deep down he had decided to stay in OKC, so this way all parties moved on quicker anyway.

[The Laker Kid]

That hot girl at the bar was pissed because I didn't talk to her. We get it, George.

[PDXKnight]

I wonder what George's choice would have been if he had played great in the playoffs and carried Westbrook instead of the other way around?

Probably the same result imo. OKC is pretty clearly not a title team as they are currently built regardless of who runs the show so I think there's more to the equation than simply having a shot at a title as playing with lebron would have made him infinitely closer than playing with Russell westbrook

[LAKESHOW]

Say what? Weve already moved on. We got Bron. PG didnt happen. Were already looking towards the future and building. And yet this dude once again puts our name in his mouth? Again? This has been my belief all along. Dudes all the time use the Lakers for leverage. Players. Agents. Etc.. But this guy never wanted the pressure of becoming a champion. He was the one who put our name out there last year. He was the one who mentioned the Lakers as the destination. He was the one who couldn't stand the pressurized questions from indy ownership about staying, and squealed out the name to get them off his back. But in the end, truly didnt have the backbone to do it. And now once again, while waay back in our rearview mirror, he once again bitches up and puts our great name out there.

[GQ Hot Dog]

Say what? Weve already moved on. We got Bron. PG didnt happen. Were already looking towards the future and building. And yet this dude once again puts our name in his mouth? Again? This has been my belief all along. Dudes all the time use the Lakers for leverage. Players. Agents. Etc.. But this guy never wanted the pressure of becoming a champion. He was the one who put our name out there last year. He was the one who mentioned the Lakers as the destination. He was the one who couldn't stand the pressurized questions from indy ownership about staying, and squealed out the name to get them off his back. But in the end, truly didnt have the backbone to do it. And now once again, while waay back in our rearview mirror, he once again bitches up and puts our great name out there.

He could have gone to the Lakers and not had to worry about those pressures too though.

[Pickled Prunes]

That hot girl at the bar was pissed because I didn't talk to her. We get it, George.

The Lakers are not a "hot girl" anymore. They are a "hot mess" at best. You're just hoping that, when they take off their glasses and let down their hair there is a hottie underneath... but there isn't. The Lakers getting Lebron is like a fat girl getting a bikini. It seems like a good idea, but will you be ready for what gets exposed?

[lebron stopper]

That's pure BS, Westbrook and co. clearly won him over big time. Although I'm glad that PG stayed with the Thunder.

[eureca20]

I appreciate that he didn't waste Magic's time if he didn't have interest in signing. What I don't appreciate is that it was reported that he gave OKC the nod to not trade him at the trade deadline because he would re-sign. He could have said he would re-sign back then. Or any month since then. He could have not had a completely bulls*** ESPN free agent 3 part series days before free agency to get fans/Lakers hopes up that he was considering them.

Fans are fans. They will get mad when they feel slighted. I just thought he would have handled that better with his home town area team. Especially that ESPN special when all the reports were he was staying in OKC.

I also wasn't a fan of him kinda throwing shade at the Lakers for not trading for him. As if it was so easy to accomplish. As if Pacers president wasn't salty at the Lakers during that time. Not only did the Pacers ask the league to investigate the Lakers for tampering. After PG requested a trade Kevin Pritchard made it clear he didn't want to do what PG wanted and trade him to the Lakers.

Are these huge things? No, but it doesn't take huge things to get a fan base angry.

[Hoopzilla]

Say what? Weve already moved on. We got Bron. PG didnt happen. Were already looking towards the future and building. And yet this dude once again puts our name in his mouth? Again? This has been my belief all along. Dudes all the time use the Lakers for leverage. Players. Agents. Etc.. But this guy never wanted the pressure of becoming a champion. He was the one who put our name out there last year. He was the one who mentioned the Lakers as the destination. He was the one who couldn't stand the pressurized questions from indy ownership about staying, and squealed out the name to get them off his back. But in the end, truly didnt have the backbone to do it. And now once again, while waay back in our rearview mirror, he once again bitches up and puts our great name out there.

He never wanted the pressure of being Lebron's excuse/scapegoat. It's like he watched others fall victim to that for almost a decade and decided it wasn't for him...

He put The Laker's name out there because he was interested in going home, but OKC wooed him into staying. I know that stings, it's obvious. How dare he turn down his hometown team and play in a situation he enjoys, the nerve.

[DEEP3CL]

That hot girl at the bar was pissed because I didn't talk to her. We get it, George.

The Lakers are not a "hot girl" anymore. They are a "hot mess" at best. You're just hoping that, when they take off their glasses and let down their hair there is a hottie underneath... but there isn't. The Lakers getting Lebron is like a fat girl getting a bikini. It seems like a good idea, but will you be ready for what gets exposed?

LMAO.....this shows your level of basketball IQ, real astute take.