Texas Chuck wrote:PG just advanced his team without Kawhi and had a terrific playoff run pushing the healthiest good team in the league to 6 in the WCF. Maybe re-think tired narratives?
I mean, I wouldn't say Paul George played particularly well in the last two games against Utah and their series against the Suns. He shot 66-155 (42.6%) from the field. Paul George had one really good game (Game 5), two good games (Game 2 and 6), and 3 bad games (Game 1, 3, and 4). But the problem is they've ran the Kawhi/PG13 duo the last two years, and they've got ONE WCF Final appearance to show for it. Kawhi Leonard just turned 30 years old, and his body is already showing signs of breaking down. And Paul George turned 31 a month ago. They don't have the luxury of just running it back with the uncertainty regarding Kawhi's health.
But the problem is the Clippers are limited on assets for the foreseeable future. Other than this year's FRP, they can't trade a FRP until 2028, which doesn't become available until after the draft. So at most they can offer their '21 FRP and '28 FRP in a trade AFTER the draft. And in terms of young players on rookie contracts, the list consists of Terrance Mann and Daniel Oturu. None of which are headliners for a trade. But the rest of their roster consists of veterans that are ready to play on win-now teams including Marcus Morris, Ivica Zubac, Patrick Beverley, etc. It's just a weird roster fit if you're looking to mix things up.