THE MOVES:
Two of the biggest moves of the NBA offseason thus far, have been the Paul George signing, and the Mikal Bridges trade. The Philadelphia 76ers signed Paul Geoge to a 4-year 212-million-dollar deal, making him one of the highest-paid players in the NBA. The New York Knicks sent 5 first-round draft picks, one first-round pick swap, a second-round draft pick, forwards Bojan Bogdanović and Mamadi Diakite, and guard Shake Milton to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a package built around Mikal Bridges. Mikal Bridges was part of the compensation Brooklyn received for Kevin Durant. If we take the haul they got for Durant and replace Bridges with the 5 first-round picks Brooklyn got in exchange for Bridges, one can say that Brooklyn received 9 first-round picks by trading Durant. Those are the two players I want to focus on, two of the top players in the NBA, Paul George and Kevin Durant.
THE RESULTS:
Since the beginning of the 2010s, Kevin Durant and Paul George have been viewed as two of the top talents in the league. I’m not going to disagree with that. However, I believe that while they are talented, having them on the floor doesn’t necessarily make your team that much better. They have great skills, shooting, passing, handles, defense, and more, but does having them on the court lead to better results for the team? To prove my point, let’s take a quick look through their careers:
KEVIN DURANT:
Kevin Durant started his career with the Seattle Super Sonics, who became the Oklahoma City Thunder. Along with his co-star Russell Westbrook, Durant took the Thunder on a nice stretch. After early exits in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 playoffs, the Thunder broke through and reached the NBA Finals in the 2011-12 season. Even though the Thunder lost the Finals 4-1 to the Miami Heat, the future looked bright in Oklahoma City. However, despite having great co-stars, such as Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams, and more, Durant failed to bring the Thunder back to the finals in any of the following 4 seasons.
That offseason, Durant became a free agent. He chose the easy way out of the Finals runt, by signing with the Golden State Warriors, who had been to the Finals in each of the previous two seasons. The Warriors already had a core of Hall of Fame caliber players, built of Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry. Unsurprisingly, Golden State reached the finals in all three of Durant’s years in the Bay Area.
After three years with the Warriors, Durant hit the free agent market again. Durant signed a monster contract with the Brooklyn Nets. Along with KD, the Nets brought in Kyrie Irving and James Harden. Kyrie had already been to 4 finals (now 5) and even won one. While Harden didn’t have the proper supporting cast to make a run at the finals, he had proven himself by winning an MVP. Durant had the best co-stars he could ask for, aside from the guys on Golden State. Nevertheless, Durant’s tenure in Brooklyn was a disaster. In each of his first two seasons in Brooklyn, Durant and the Nets lost in the very first round of the playoffs. In his third year, things were going so poorly, that Brooklyn had to pull the plug and trade him before the season concluded.
The Nets traded KD to the Phoenix Suns. Led by Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, the Suns already had a great core. Two years prior, they had been to the finals but lost. Now that they added one of the top players in the game, there was no reason for them not to get it done. Nonetheless, they lost in the Western Conference Finals last year and lost in the first round this year.
While Durant does have great stats and skills, he’s never made his organization better. He’s had multiple opportunities to accomplish big things with amazing co-stars, Westbrook, Kyrie, Harden, Booker, and more. Yet, he’s only been able to reach the finals when he had Curry, Klay, and Draymond carrying him. The Warriors won a title before Durant joined, and after he left, so he can’t hang his hat on his success with them either. Everywhere he’s gone, the amount of success hasn’t gone up, sometimes it’s even gone down. He’s a great player, but is he worth the hype and resources if he doesn’t help the team?
PAUL GEORGE:
Paul George started his career with the Indiana Pacers. Much like Durant, Paul George immediately had great co-stars, such as Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, and George Hill. In his rookie year, George and the Pacers lost in the first round of the playoffs. In each of the two following years, the Pacers got one round further than the previous one. In year four, it was supposed to be their year, this time they’ll make it to the NBA Finals. However, the Pacers fell short and lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The next year, Paul George missed all but 6 games with an injury, and the Pacers missed the playoffs. When George came back, it wasn’t the same. The Pacers lost in the first round in each of the next two years. After 7 years with the Pacers, Paul George abandoned the ship and left Indiana. His departure didn’t make such an impact, as the Pacers lost in the same round in each of the following three years.
Meanwhile, Paul George teamed up with Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony in Oklahoma City. Despite having multiple superstars, the Thunder failed to get past the first round in either of Paul George’s years there. After two failed years, Paul George abandoned the ship again and demanded a trade.
Paul George teamed up with Patrick Beverly and Kawhi Leonard, on the Los Angeles Clippers. In George’s first season on the Clippers, they were able to win a playoff series, even without Kawhi. After they added Kawhi, who was fresh off of carrying the Toronto Raptors to their first-ever title, big things were expected out of the Clippers’ new core. Despite having a great season, they ended up losing to the pre-KD Suns in the Western Conference Finals. In the 2021-22 season, both Kawhi and Paul George struggled with major injuries and the Clippers missed the playoffs. In each of the past two years, the Clippers have lost in the very first round. After a handful of disappointing finishes, Paul George broke up the squad and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.
After adding Paul George, the 76ers now have a great big-3 of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George. Nevertheless, as a Knicks fan, I’m not sweating. Paul George is in a cycle of assembling a great group with great co-stars, creating a lot of hype, failing to meet expectations, and then restarting by creating a new group of co-stars on a different team. In theory, he has great stats and skills, but he’s injury-prone and hasn’t won when it matters. In 14 years in the league, Paul George has won 8 playoff series and is 0-3 in series past the second round. If the objective is to get as far as possible in the playoffs, why give Paul George 53 million dollars per year?
NOT “THAT GUY”:
Both Kevin Durant and Paul George are very talented players, but that’s it. They haven’t done anything by themselves. Their only success has come when their role is to be the third or fourth option on the team. I believe that there is a certain type of player who can put the S on their chest, the team on their back, and will their way to victory. As I previously mentioned, Kawhi did it in 2019 with the Raptors, Jimmy Butler did it last year with the Heat, and Luka Doncic did it this past year with the Mavericks. I don’t see either Durant or George being able to do that, or in slang: they’re not “that guy”. If the objective is to win a championship, why spend big money, or trade many picks for Durant or George?
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