There have been plenty of “what-ifs” when it comes to the Detroit Pistons and superstar players over the years.
Possibly the biggest was their near trade for Kobe Bryant, as the Pistons were close to landing the all-time great before the 2007-8 season only to have Kobe nix the trade at the last minute.
That move could have changed the course of NBA history and is difficult to top in terms of what could have been.
Detroit has never been an elite destination for superstars, but they have been close on a number of occasions, including with Paul George according to a recent revelation on his podcast.
Paul George to the Detroit Pisons was closer than you think
Paul George recently had former Piston Andre Drummond on his podcast, Podcast P and the two talked about a number of topics, including how Drummond and Reggie Jackson tried to recruit George to Detroit.
George admitted that he considered the possibility and that he, Drummond and Jackson would have made for an interesting threesome in Detroit.
George commented, “that might have been three solid stars right there,” and Drummond agreed, saying, “we could’ve did something special.”
But George went on to say why Detroit was never a real possibility:
“The only thing, I was like, I lived in Indiana, I’m tryna get out of this cold. I’m not trying to leave cold to go cold again.”
George was eventually traded from Indiana to OKC, who took him on even though he was going to be a free agent the very next season.
It worked out, as they were able to flip him for current MVP frontrunner, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, five first-round picks and two swaps, the base of their current team that is dominating the Western Conference.
It was one of the best trades in modern history, as George has continued to struggle with injuries and the Thunder have built what should be a sustainable title contender in the West that still has a load of draft assets to use to get better.
I’m sure there were myriad reasons other than weather that Paul George ultimately scorned Detroit, and he made it clear early on that he was keen to return to his home state of California.
The cold weather didn’t scare him away from Philly, though maybe it should have, as Detroit now looks to be in a better situation than the 76ers, who are having an all-time disaster season due to injuries to their stars.
It’s an interesting “what-if,” as those Andre Drummond teams were always stacked with role players but never had the star to carry them, a role George would have been particularly suited for in that era.