‘We were crushed’: Former Clipper laments trading away Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Lou Williams said the Clippers were ‘heartbroken’ when they had to trade SGA.

One of the biggest league-changing trades in recent history received some new intel to put extra perspective on the megadeal.

Former sixth man Lou Williams recently spoke about the 2019 Paul George trade, in which the Oklahoma City Thunder received Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a treasure trove of draft picks from the LA Clippers.

Four years later, the deal continues to age tremendously well for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander has blossomed into one of the best players in the league and their seemingly endless number of draft picks gives them arguably the deepest trade ammunition in the entire league.

In fact, the Thunder are already benefiting from the Clippers’ draft picks. They used their 2022 first-round pick to select Jalen Williams, who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting last season.

In a recent media appearance, Williams spoke about how demoralizing it was to trade Gilgeous-Alexander following an impressive rookie campaign.

Williams played four seasons for the Clippers; he was teammates with Gilgeous-Alexander during his rookie season in 2018-19. The 20-year-old rookie was a key starter for a 48-34 Clippers squad that pushed the Golden State Warriors during the playoffs.

“Absolutely. We were heartbroken when he got traded. Absolutely. We were crushed,” Williams said. “Even though it was for PG. We knew who PG was, but we have spent so much time and energy and kinda been instrumental in his career and his development. Just making sure he’s getting extra shots. He was so open to information. So open to learning and wanting to be great, we knew he was gonna be one of those players.”

Former Clippers coach Doc Rivers also said something similar last season. It appears giving up Gilgeous-Alexander was a bitter pill to swallow for the Clippers, but it was the cost of doing business to acquire both Kawhi Leonard and George — who’ve yet to take them to their first NBA Finals appearance.

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