AS LA CLIPPERS brass celebrated, Doc Rivers executed an uncomfortable assignment.
It was July 10, 2019, and the Clippers had just pulled off a blockbuster one-two transaction punch that carried the potential to shift the NBA’s balance of power.
The Clippers’ long-running pursuit of Kawhi Leonard had succeeded, as LA sealed the two-time Finals MVP’s free agency commitment by pulling off a massive deal to acquire his hand-picked co-star, Paul George.
The deals instantly established Los Angeles’ less glamorous franchise as a legitimate contender, but it came at a steep cost: The package dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder was headlined by a historic haul of draft capital — and a promising 20-year-old guard who had just wrapped up a second-team All-Rookie campaign.
It was then-Clippers coach Rivers’ responsibility to call Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and inform him of the trade.
“He understood it, but he is a competitive dude,” Rivers told ESPN before his midseason hiring to coach the Milwaukee Bucks. “That bothered him, like it should, because whenever you get traded for someone else and then the reason you’re trading him, it is to say you’re trying to win a title, then that guy’s thinking, ‘Well, wait a minute, what about me?'”
Thunder general manager Sam Presti insisted on Gilgeous-Alexander’s inclusion, envisioning him as a piece of the Thunder’s core for years to come. Gilgeous-Alexander had played a significant role on the Clippers’ scrappy No. 8 seed as a rookie, averaging 10.8 points and 3.3 assists, and Rivers believed he had star potential.
George, though, was a superstar in his prime who had been a first-team All-NBA selection the previous season in Oklahoma City. He was essentially attached to Leonard, who was fresh off demonstrating how much he could impact winning by leading the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA title in his lone season with the franchise.
If that’s what it took for the Clippers to land their superstar combo, Gilgeous-Alexander had to go.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Gilgeous-Alexander said recently. “I’m not like, ‘Why would you do that?’ It made sense. I think Paul just came off like an MVP-caliber year. …
“I used it a little bit as motivation just to get better and really turn myself into that caliber of player.”
In his fifth season…
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