“Going to be good when they figure it out”: Paul George sees greatness in Pistons' core with Cade Cunningham at the helm
LA Clippers All-Star Paul George believes the currently struggling Detroit Pistons will only get better moving forward, with guard Cade Cunningham leading the way.
‘PG’ shared this to members of media following their 112-106 victory at home over the Pistons on Saturday. He highlighted that the Motor City team is still in the process of figuring things out collectively but with Cunningham in tow and a solid young core, Detroit will be a handful in time.
The nine-time All-Star out of Fresno State said:
“I love Cade’s game. He’s really good, he’s athletic, he’s strong. I think that’s really where he’s going to be a problem for many years to come. You talk about his size, his ball-handling ability, his playmaking ability, and just how strong he is.”
George added:
“They got a strong nucleus of their core with him, Duren, Ivey, the Thompson twin. They’re going to be good when they figure it out playing together.”
The Pistons have struggled mightily this season, holding a league-worst record of 8-44 that also saw them lose 28 straight games at one point.
The loss to the Clippers stopped a two-win run for Detroit, which was led by Jaden Ivey with 23 points. Cunningham, meanwhile, had 22 points and 10 assists.
For the Clippers, it was Paul George who paced the team to the win, finishing with 33 points. Kawhi Leonard added 24 of his own.
Paul George hopes for stellar ending for the LA Clippers this season
Paul George and the LA Clippers struggled early on this season when they made the bold move to bring in James Harden to the fold. But after some time of figuring things out, they have been playing solid basketball, with ‘PG’ hoping for it to end with them hoisting the NBA championship trophy.
The Clippers began their Harden era with five straight losses, a stretch where they were vilified. Since then, however, they have moved on to become a solid contender out West, winning 32 of their next 41 games to make their way to near the top of the conference with a 35-16 record.
The turnaround is in line with what Paul George envisioned when they got Harden to join him, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook to form an All-Star core. Incidentally, all four are from Southern California.
He shared this in an interview that came out on the Basketball Network back in November, where he also expressed hope that all of it would end up with a title for the LA Clippers.
He said,
“I mean we've talked leading up to it. That's the reason why he's (Harden) here. We wanted him here. We all said we think we can make it work, and that we'll figure it out. But we obviously got to practice.”
“We got to play for us to really get on the same page and understand how to play how on the floor with one another. What better story to be told than for four Southern Cal guys to do what's never been done before and be champions?"
With the way they are currently playing, the Paul George Clippers have seemingly figured things out, rendering their title hopes far from being just a pipe dream.