After another first-round exit, the future of Paul George with the Indiana Pacers remains at a crossroads. The Miami Heat should seriously consider pursuing the all-star forward.
The summer of 2004 was a transformative period for the Miami Heat.
The Heat had just completed their season with a 42-40 record, strikingly similar to this past season. And like this past season, the Heat featured a roster filled with exciting and up-and-coming players. Aside from rookie Dwayne Wade, the Heat featured 24-year-old Lamar Odom, an incredibly versatile forward playing his first season in Miami.
Also, Caron Butler was in just his second year in the league, having been the Heat’s first round selection in the 2002 draft. However, despite the team’s considerable upside in reaching the second round of the playoffs, team president Pat Riley was always thinking of the bigger picture.
So when Shaquille O’Neal became available, Riley pounced, dealing Odom, Butler, Brian Grant and a first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for O’Neal. Sure, this decision could not be made lightly. At the time of the deal, Riley stated the following:
"“It disheartens me to see them leave. However, you don’t get many chances to acquire the best player in the league, and this was a trade I felt we had to make.”"
O’Neal was 32 at the time of the trade, and had been involved in somewhat of a power struggle with teammate and fellow superstar, Kobe Bryant. So O’Neal would now be joining another superstar guard in Wade in the pursuit of landing the Heat their first championship.
The end result, of course, was the Heat winning the title in 2006, just two years after the trade.
Just prior to O’Neal’s No.32 Heat jersey being retired by the franchise this past season, Riley reflected on the trade:
"“I’ll say this, and I mean this. Shaq’s acquisition was bigger than any acquisition that we ever made, including the Big Three… getting Shaquille changed everything for our franchise.”"
More recently, Riley swooped when point guard Goran Dragic became disenfranchised with his role at the Phoenix Suns. Riley noted at the time:
"“We are incredibly pleased to take another step in getting the Miami Heat back to real championship prominence with the acquisition of Goran Dragic….we felt that once he became available, we would do all that we could to acquire him.”"
This now brings us to the present. And, more specifically, Paul George.
This past season, George averaged 23.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 35.9 minutes per game. His shooting numbers across the board – 46.1 percent from the field, 39.3 percent on 3’s and 89.8 percent from the line – were excellent.
However, his team was swept out of the first round by the Cavaliers. George’s future in Indiana has been the subject of speculation for months. With the ability to opt out of his current contract at the end of the 2017-18 season, George has been heavily linked to the Lakers, primarily due to his Southern California roots and rumors that he has his eye on playing there.
George is the definition of a top-notch two-way player. At 6-foot-9, and excellent defensively both on the perimeter and the low block, some could argue George should be playing small-ball 4 (though he’s been averse to playing it in the past). Offensively, George’s ability to play both on and off the ball and score in a multitude of ways makes him a nightmare for opposing teams.
Like he did with O’Neal and Dragic, Riley should be eyeing a move for George–possibly the best player available on the trade market. But there are a few problems with a potential George trade, that we’ll outline here.