Doc Rivers revisits Thunder-Clippers trade: 'We cannot give up Shai' Gilgeous-Alexander
The Oklahoma City Thunder has a superstar in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The 25-year-old guard earned an All-NBA first-team selection last season, and he's arguably playing better basketball this time around. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.4 points and 6.2 assists per game, and he ranks third in the NBA's latest MVP ladder.
That isn't lost on Doc Rivers. He was the Los Angeles Clippers' head coach in July 2019 when they traded Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to OKC for Paul George.
Los Angeles did the blockbuster trade minutes after signing Kawhi Leonard, who reportedly insisted on joining forces with George. In an interview with Bill Simmons on Wednesday, Rivers shed some light on the deal, which is now viewed as a lopsided victory for the Thunder.
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Doc Rivers: Kawhi Leonard wanted to win right away with Clippers
OKC (15-7) is second in the Western Conference standings with a strong young core and a wealth of draft capital. Meanwhile, Los Angeles (13-10) has only reached the conference finals once in the Leonard-George era.
"That was the hard thing," Rivers said. "My reaction was (that) we're getting Kawhi and Paul George. I was happy. Having said that, I did bring it up. I did say, 'Man, can we give them somebody else? Like, we cannot give up Shai.'"
Rivers said he expressed that sentiment to Leonard, who was determined to win right away with the Clippers after leading the Toronto Raptors to a championship the previous season.
"I kept saying, 'You know, Kawhi, Shai is going to be a star,'" Rivers said. "And (Leonard asked), 'Well, how long?' I said, 'I don't know how long, but he's going to be one.'"
But it wasn't up to Rivers, and it was hardly up to the Clippers either.
The leverage belonged to Leonard. In a sit-down interview with ESPN in July 2019, Leonard said he was "very close" to either signing with the Los Angeles Lakers or resigning with the Raptors. But he ultimately chose the Clippers because they acquired George.
“I was very close,” Leonard said in the interview. “Real close. But when (the Clippers) presented the opportunity of playing with Paul, it was easy. It was a yes. I said, 'Let’s get it going.'”
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Doc Rivers saw 'greatness' in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The thought of Leonard signing with the Lakers is what drove the Clippers to do the George trade, according to Rivers.
"We couldn't lose to the Lakers," Rivers said. "I don't believe in my heart that Kawhi would've gone there. I don't believe it. I think he was coming to us all along, but he had all the cards. ... He had all the leverage, and we had to bite."
The Clippers did the deal, and Gilgeous-Alexander has since flourished with the Thunder.
He's one of the league's brightest young stars, and he's the one who got away for the Clippers.
"We saw it," Rivers said. "We didn't know (Gilgeous-Alexander) was going to be this. No one knows that. But we saw greatness, that this dude is going to be a helluva player."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Doc Rivers regrets Thunder-Clippers trade with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
