NBA Rumors: Shaquille O’Neal Feels Clippers Need To Unload Paul George

Shaquille O’ Neal has been known to express himself as loud as he can, and it appears the retired NBA big man has the Los Angeles Clippers in his mind.

Most know how the Clippers disappointingly performed in the 2019-20 NBA Playoffs, and the three-time NBA Finals MVP singled out one player on its roster--Paul George.

In his podcast “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” the 48-year-old center stressed that the Clippers should consider trading George.

He goes on to point out that Kawhi Leonard is the main guy for the team and Los Angeles could even get two solid players if they explore trade options involving the 30-year-old forward.

"You gotta use [George] to get 2 good solid players because I need Kawhi to be the man. See Kawhi, I don't want Kawhi to delegate," Shaq said. "See, when Kawhi was with Toronto he knew he was the man, everybody knew he was the man. Now you got one guy that thinks he's the man, one guy that is the man."

It remains to be seen if Clippers owner Steve Ballmer will consider trading George. In the playoffs, he averaged 20.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per NBA.com.

Though these are decent numbers, they were remarkably lower compared to the production he had with past teams.

In a report from Sports Illustrated back in August, Leonard said he was not giving up on his six-time All-Star teammate. The two-time NBA champion believes that the struggles of the Clippers are not solely because of him.

"Just tell him to keep going," Leonard said. "His time is coming."

Looking forward, it all boils down to what new head coach Tyronn Lue has up his sleeves.

Lue knows that he has his work cut out for him and will likely try to make things work with his current crop.

But if the team continues to struggle this coming 2020-21 NBA season, it won’t come as a surprise if the Clippers pull off some deals before the NBA trade deadline.