Ty Lue has explained why he doesn’t think it was a mistake by the Los Angeles Clippers by swapping Paul George with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Los Angeles Clippers traded Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019.
Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP and the 2025 NBA Championship with Thunder, leading the franchise to its most successful season to date. Meanwhile, George’s tenure with the Clippers was a complete failure. He paired up with Kawhi Leonard to form one of the NBA’s elite duos, but failed to make the finals in five seasons.
Ty Lue was an assistant coach for the Clippers in 2019 and was promoted to head coach in 2020. He explained why he doesn’t think it was wrong for his team to trade MVPs on Gilgeous-Alexander.
George won the best season of all time in 2018. He averaged 28 points per game, finishing third in the MVP polls, finishing in both the All-NBA and All-Defensive first teams. However, Thunder was swept off the court by Damien Lillard in the first round of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year poll after a solid first year in the league. He was impressed with the Clippers with 10.8 points per game, as long as it is considered a valuable trading asset in the George contract.
Given that context, Lou said it was no mistake for the Clippers to trade Gilgauss Alexander. Speaking about the Club Shay Shay Shay Podcast, he said:
“PG was in the MVP vote (third), and the two-way players (who joined Kawhi) were like Jordan and Pippen. Shy was a really good young player, but I didn’t know he would be this.
“That was the best thing for Shy, because if he was with the Clippers he wouldn’t have had the ball in his hand.
“Hidewitness is 20/20, and it’s easy to say, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t have done it.’ But if you were lying now, who would have been lying?
Gilgeous-Alexander exceeded all expectations to get there, but now Thunder fans expect the world from players who are called the best players in the history of the franchise.
Gilgeous-Alexander is coming out from behind one of the greatest seasons ever. He won the Thunder 68 wins, won the MVP and beat the Indiana Pacers in the final game 7 to win the championship.
He did something that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook never won the title, and Thunder fans paid him back with almighty tributes. In a survey by OKC Thunder Wire, 90.2% of OKC fans said Gilgeous-Alexander is the greatest Thunder player of all time, beyond Durant and Westbrook.
That being said, they have high expectations for the team. 80.6% of fans were hoping Thunder would win again to surpass 61 games. They enter the season as one of their title favourites, but it becomes a high order at the stacked Western Conference.
The Houston Rockets, the second seed last year, traded for Durant in a huge hit move. Durant’s rocket thunders during the opening night. Luka Donsic’s physical changes with the Los Angeles Lakers make him the forefront of the MVP and a threat to Thunder’s repeated hopes.
The Clippers bought Bradley Beal in the offseason and play alongside Leonard and James Harden, hoping this is the year they get over the hump. Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets took OKC to seven games last season, making a series of roster improvements, replacing Michael Porter Jr., and adding bench depth.
Winning the second title at this Western Conference takes Gilgeous-Alexander to another level among the NBA’s greatest legends ever.