Thunder's Sam Presti Disagrees with Paul George Calling Clippers Trade 'Mutual'

Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti disagreed with Paul George's contention that his trade to the Los Angeles Clippers was "mutual."

"I know he used the term mutual. I don't necessarily agree with that," Presti told reporters at a press conference Thursday.

Presti added that the negotiations were not contentious after George made his request, which came after he was contacted by Kawhi Leonard to join the Clippers. He said the team went into the offseason planning to continue building around George and Russell Westbrook, who was later traded to the Houston Rockets.

When it comes to the relationship between George and Westbrook, Presti seemed to indicate whatever level of discontent felt within the organization after its first-round exit was normal. 

"I just can't get into whatever the speculation is. I just can tell you this, I don't know how many people in the NBA are contented at the end of the season," Presti told reporters. 

George requested a trade just one year after signing a three-year contract with the Thunder and spurning a chance to return home to L.A. and team with LeBron James at the Lakers. He responded with the best season of his career, finishing third behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden in the MVP voting.

"I didn't do nothing that was...I worked hand in hand with the (Thunder) front office," George told reporters at his Clippers introductory press conference Wednesday. "We had a great relationship. I played two good years there. It was a mutual thing between both of us that the time was up and we both had ideas of doing things differently.

"I don't think there's nothing wrong with it and I think there should be a mutual and pretty even thing if both parties can be on the same page. At the end of the day, they've got a career as far as the team and the players have a career as well. As long as there's a mutual respect between the both, there shouldn't be nothing wrong with it."

What we have here may be a case of semantic interpretation of the word "mutual." The Thunder planned to go into next season with George and Westbrook, and they made moves this offseason seemingly to shore up their roster for another playoff run.

However, it does not appear Presti fought hard to keep George. The level of contentiousness was nowhere near as severe as when George requested a trade from the Indiana Pacers two years ago. Presti granted the request, to the team of George's choice, within days and got a haul that made some hail him as a genius.

In Thunder circles, there were likely some who breathed a sigh of relief at the request, knowing they were hopelessly capped out for a team that didn't make it out of the first round each of the last two years.

Dismantling the roster brought back an unprecedented haul of draft picks, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a coveted young player who has a ton of potential. Presti will also have the chance to trade Chris Paul at some point, with hopes of at least landing financial relief as part of that deal.

The Thunder are in a better position for the future now than when they had George and Westbrook on their roster. This may be a case of everybody winning, which is why the whole thing felt "mutual" to George.