The 16-year NBA veteran is ready to join the C's after being included in the Jaylen Brown trade
Boston Celtics forward Paul George hasn't spoken to the media yet since being acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers in the trade that sent Jaylen Brown to Philly, however, we did hear from him on a YouTube video that was released by the team on Sunday.
Speaking about joining the Celtics, George said that it was "surreal," and that he's looking forward to representing for Boston.
Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens was also complimentary of George, talking about how impactful he's been on winning and how he will mesh with the rest of the team's lineup.
George is a 16-year veteran of the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers and 76ers. A nine-time All-Star, George is one of the best players of the last 15 years or so, but he's no longer quite the same player.
He's played less than 57 games in six of the last seven seasons and the Celtics likely can't count on him for more than 50 this season if they want to keep him healthy and active for the playoffs.
That said, when the Celtics do have him available, they'll be counting on him to be the player that Stevens believes he is. He's a six-time All-NBA selection, a four-time All-Defensive selection and a former steals champion. Offensively, he's averaged 20.5 ppg for his career. He's still very capable of scoring, especially with his jumpshot.
He and Jayson Tatum play essentially the same position, so it will be interesting to see how head coach Joe Mazzulla divvies up the on-court responsibilities and sets the rotations.
Tatum, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard all figure to be locked into starting roles, with either Neemias Queta or Mitchell Robinson serving as the big man in the group.
That leaves an opening for George to start as well, but the team could elect to bring him off the bench and provide some depth there. We'll obviously learn more about the plans through the training camp and preseason period.
The Celtics are coming off a 56-26 regular season that saw them get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the 76ers.
As of now, most pundits expect them to be worse this season following the trade of Brown. The 76ers, Pistons, Raptors, and world champion Knicks are all garnering more headlines in advance of training camp and preseason.
The Celtics open up the season on Oct. 20.
