What did the Clippers give up in the Paul George trade?

In July 2019 the Clippers sent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Paul George. It is widely considered the largest trade package ever given for one player.

Why did the Clippers trade for Paul George?

Kawhi Leonard, the top free agent of 2019, agreed to sign with the Clippers on the condition that they also acquire Paul George. The two deals happened together on the night of July 5 into July 6, 2019.

Who won the Paul George trade?

Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander developed into an MVP-level superstar and the picks fueled a Thunder rebuild, while George left the Clippers in 2024 as a free agent with no titles won during the era.

What Did the Clippers Give Up for Paul George? The Full Trade

Updated July 2026

Everything. In July 2019 the Clippers sent Oklahoma City a package of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks and two pick swaps for Paul George. It is generally regarded as the biggest price ever paid for a single player, and it was the cost of getting Kawhi Leonard to sign.

The trade, itemized

Clippers sent to OKC

SGAShai Gilgeous-Alexander, then a promising 20-year-old guard coming off his rookie season.
GalloDanilo Gallinari, a productive veteran scorer on an expiring deal.
5First-round picks, most of them unprotected, stretching years into the future.
2First-round pick swap rights on top of that.

Why they did it

Because Kawhi Leonard made it the condition. The reigning Finals MVP was the crown jewel of 2019 free agency, and he told the Clippers he would sign only if a second star came with him. George, a Palmdale native who grew up a Clippers fan, asked out of OKC to make it happen. On the night of July 5, 2019, both moves landed at once and the Clippers, for the first time ever, won an NBA summer outright.

At the time, the consensus was clear: you make that deal every single time. A two-way Finals MVP in his prime plus an All-NBA wing, both in their late twenties, both from Southern California, both choosing the Clippers. Nobody knew what SGA would become. Almost nobody. OKC general manager Sam Presti knew enough to insist on him.

How it aged

Painfully, and Clippers fans will tell you so before you can. Gilgeous-Alexander grew into a scoring champion and MVP, the exact franchise player the Clippers had spent five decades searching for. The picks kept OKC's rebuild stocked for years. Meanwhile the Kawhi and PG era produced one conference finals, a bubble collapse, injury after injury, and in 2024, George leaving for Philadelphia with the Clippers receiving nothing in return.

The fair version of the verdict holds two things at once. The logic was right: teams in the Clippers' position had to trade the maybe for the sure thing. And the outcome was still the worst case: the maybe became the best player in basketball. Both are true. It is the most consequential what-if in franchise history, and you can run the alternative yourself if you want to feel something.

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