After LeBron James, who is the clear focal point of this upcoming free agency period, one of other important decisions belongs to Paul George. The versatile All-Star forward could pretty much go wherever he wants, but it seems the decision will come down to the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers.
George has been heavily linked to the Lakers for over a year now, and they will be eager to sign him, as he's not only a great player, but would increase their chances of adding LeBron. However, it's not out of the realm of possibility that George will stay with the Thunder.
In a bit of a unique twist, George will announce his decision in the final episode of a three-part documentary. The first episode aired on Tuesday night, and while it didn't reveal much, it did seem to signal that George may have unfinished business in OKC. Via the International Business Times:
George acknowledges the Thunder took a big risk in signing him with free agency bound the next year but also hinted he may have unfinished business in Oklahoma.
"Here they have made a huge risk in trading for me, knowing I have one year on my deal," George added. "But I felt I didn't finish as strong as I could have. Just knowing you left something on the table, even to this point now, it weighs on me."
It's pretty interesting that George seems to feel a pull to remain in OKC. If he hadn't been traded to the Thunder, there would be pretty much no chance he would sign there in free agency. But this is an example of why teams take a risk to trade for someone even with the possibility it would be a rental. Sometimes, being in a city and with a team can convince you to stay somewhere you never knew you wanted to be.
As for the unfinished business. The Thunder's experiment to pair Russell Westbrook with George and Carmelo Anthony did not go as planned last season, and it's easy to understand why George believes they could do better than a first-round exit.
