It's fair to still not love or even like the trade that got him here, but Paul George has been great early in his Boston Celtics tenure. Only time will tell if Boston made the right decision trading Jaylen Brown to get him, but a little over a week into the season, George is doing everything right.
Paul George has already proven to be a great fit with the Celtics
Through four games, the Fresno State alum is averaging 22.3 points, 6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.3 steals on 47/43.8/86.7% shooting splits (this includes his incredible 38-point, 12-for-21 shooting performance against the Detroit Pistons in the season opener).
George is making an impact in every area of the game for Boston, and it's a big reason the team is 3-1 right now. He is shooting the ball, scoring, defending, passing, playmaking, and rebounding at high levels. George has been a great complement to Jayson Tatum so far, and the two have played off each other really well.
And while he's not the same player he was 10 (or even maybe five) years ago, George has already shown he can lead the team when Tatum is off the court. Because the two are very similar in terms of their mentality (get everybody involved but take over as the primary shot creator/scorer if needed), the Celtics don't actually miss that much of a beat in the minutes that Tatum is on the bench.
In a way, George is like a Tatum-lite, and very early on, he's proving to be a great fit in Boston's system. As long as he stays healthy (which, despite what he says, is still a big ask -- he's appeared in more than 55 games just twice since the 2018-19 season, his final year with the Oklahoma City Thunder), he can help the Celtics compete.
Paul George is making his presence felt in the paint
One of the biggest negatives of the Celtics' decision to trade Brown is that their ability to get to the paint and score at the rim (which was already pretty bad; their 42.5 points in the paint per game last season was fifth-worst in the league -- Brown was responsible for 12.5 of those) was expected to be even worse.
The 2024 Finals MVP was a legitimate threat to get to the paint every time he touched the ball (cutting, driving, or in transition), and it was expected that Boston would miss having someone like him on the court to add a new dynamic to its offense.
George isn't the same downhill threat that Brown is, but he has been surprisingly effective in the paint. This was especially noticeable during the Celtics' overtime win against the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 27, when he went 6-for-9 on shots in the paint (by way of cutting or driving to the basket, or even just getting fed in the paint).
Given that the 36-year-old is mostly utilized as a spacer at this point in his career, it has been encouraging to see him be able to at least somewhat replace some of Brown's presence near the basket.
George has been fantastic in Boston so far, and fans should be excited to see where he and the team can go from here.
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