Paul George Not Being Traded to Spurs Actually Helped Him in the Long Run

The Los Angeles Clippers will finally have their power duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George taking the court at the same time on Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics. Ahead of the tandem's debut, they were interviewed this past summer by ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk.

During said meeting, George revealed that he originally requested a trade to the San Antonio Spurs in 2017 with the goal of teaming up with Leonard. Of course, that never happened, much to the dismay of Spurs fans everywhere.

But it worked out for George in the long run.

George, like Leonard, is a California native, who always wanted to play home in Los Angeles. Of course, the mass media pushed George to the Lakers, with no thought of the Clippers. Regardless, both the Spurs and Lakers were unwilling to trade young assets and draft picks for George, who ended up going to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In hindsight, it's a good thing George never ended up with the Spurs. Leonard had an injury-plagued 2017, dealing with a nagging quadriceps injury that limited him to just nine games. Afterwards, Leonard began his exit from San Antonio due to disagreements with the team's medical staff.

Imagine how awkward that would have been for the Spurs to acquire George in order to team with Leonard, only for them to be together for a total of nine contests?

Leonard had the entire league in the palm of his hands when entering free agency this past summer. As it turns out, Leonard and George were planning to team together. Whichever team could necessitate the acquisition of George would, in turn, cause the defending NBA MVP to sign on the dotted line.

Now, both stars return home and the Clippers are an NBA Championship favorite this season. While there were countless hoops to jump through, it all worked out in the long run for both George and Leonard.