Yes, the Knicks Should Make a Run at Paul George

As we've talked about often since the Knicks' 2023-23 campaign ended in Miami last month, New York should look to add efficient three-point shooting and upgrade defensively this offseason. 

There are only a select few players in the NBA that can check both of those boxes. The few that do are usually unattainable. 

Yet, one such rare 3-and-D stud wing may be available. 

According to Marc Stein's latest Substack post: "The LA Clippers have left various rival teams with the impression through their Draft Week conversations that they are, at a minimum, attempting to gauge Paul George's trade value."

Stein reports that rival clubs believe the Clippers are seriously considering breaking the duo of George and Kawhi Leonard due to the injury issues that have prevented them from remaining healthy.

Still, there is no indication that LA is looking to dump George at a steep discount. Remember, when they acquired him in 2019 from OKC, the Clippers traded away Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and five (yes, five) first-round picks.

Nonetheless, the mere speculation that the Clips might be willing to part means the Knicks should immediately inquire about the asking price.

George is an eight-time All-Star and has made six All-NBA teams in his career. And although he celebrated his 33rd birthday last month, he still produces at a high level. PG13's incredibly versatile skill set allows him to stuff the stat sheet nightly. In 2022-23, he averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.8 made treys and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 45.7% from the field and 37.1% from behind the arc.

It was the third straight season he has racked up more than 23 points, more than six boards and more than five dimes per game. The only other players in the league to average at least 23/6/5 in each of the past three seasons are Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Of those six stars, George is the only player also to average more than 2.0 made three-pointers and 1.0 steals.

As noted above, the Knicks need to add long-range gunners this summer, and George has established himself as one of the game's elite high–volume marksmen. Dating back to the start of 2015-16 (a 501-game sample size), George has converted 38.8% of his three-point attempts (1,518 for 3,908) and 85.8% of his free throws. The only other players to make more than 1,500 treys during this seven-year stretch are Steph Curry, James Harden, Dame Lillard and Buddy Hield. 

And George's contributions are certainly not limited solely to the offensive end. PG13 has been named to the NBA's All-Defensive Team four times. His last appearance on the first team came back in 2018-19 - when he also finished third in MVP voting (behind Giannis and Harden and ahead of Jokic and Steph). 

While George is less agile and impactful on the defensive end than he was in his late 20s, he is still an undeniably disruptive defender.

However, the issue for George has not been his production when he's on the floor, is how often he's unavailable. PG13 has missed more than 25 games due to injury in each of the past four seasons. He has appeared in just 189 out of possible 318 regular-season contests during this stretch.