Long before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became an MVP, a champion and the centerpiece of Oklahoma City’s rise, Lou Williams already believed the Clippers had found a future star.
That is why his first question after learning Los Angeles was trading for Paul George had nothing to do with George.
“When that trade happened for Paul George, I swear to God, when he called me, the first thing I asked him was, ‘Was Shai in the trade?’” Williams recalled. “That was the first thing I asked him.”
Williams had spent Gilgeous-Alexander’s rookie season watching him from inside the Clippers’ locker room. What stood out was not only the talent, but the complete package.
“In our game you want your young star to be coachable, a worker, one of the guys, the toughest, smartest,” Williams said. “SGA was all of those things.”
The Clippers sent Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and a massive package of draft capital to Oklahoma City for George in July 2019. The deal helped Los Angeles secure Kawhi Leonard and created an immediate championship contender, so the logic was understandable at the time. But the Clippers never reached the Finals with that core, while Shai became the foundation of a championship team in Oklahoma City.
Williams insists his belief is not revisionist history. He and other Clippers veterans were reportedly crushed when Gilgeous-Alexander was included because they had already seen how quickly he learned and how seriously he approached the game.
“He was one of the first rookies that I was on a team with that I said, ‘Hey, that boy going to be a star,’” Williams said.
Lou Williams tells story of when he found out the Clippers were trading his rookie SGA, for Paul George:
“In our game you want your young star to be coachable, a worker, one of the guys, the toughest, smartest, SGA was all of those things. When that trade happened for Paul… pic.twitter.com/7UeZcxi2XL
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) July 15, 2026
The Clippers were chasing established greatness and had to make an enormous sacrifice to get it. Lou Williams just understood immediately that the largest part of that sacrifice was not the mountain of picks.
It was Shai.
