Before All-Star forward Paul George was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Indiana Pacers talked to the Golden State Warriors and offered him for Klay Thompson, a source told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to the source, Golden State said no to the offer, and the talks with Indiana ended there.
Appearing on Thursday's SportsCenter, George told Wojnarowski he was aware the Pacers had talked to the Warriors.
"I would've looked forward to it, of just being in a good situation and a chance to compete for a championship," George said. "But it didn't happen. It's still fun to team up with a special talent and have a chance to compete against that team."
George joked that he didn't think a trade to Golden State would fly with the league.
"Yeah, I think that would've been the Chris Paul-to-L.A. situation where they denied that trade," George said with a laugh, referring to the infamous Hornets-Lakers deal in 2011 that was vetoed by then-NBA commissioner David Stern.
The Pacers agreed to send George to Oklahoma City for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis on June 30. The trade became official on July 6.
In Oklahoma City, George will be teamed with MVP Russell Westbrook. George talked Thursday about how Golden State's approach has changed the game.
"We love being the alpha of our teams, but it's just not realistic that you're going to be able to do it alone," George said.
"You need help in this league. Back in the day, that's what made the league. Guys were winning championships, making their team better by themselves. They had pieces and they had a lot of help. But the league was spread out.
"Now you've got guys teaming up; the landscape has shifted a bit. In order to compete against that, you have to have guys that can compete at the same level as you. That's really what this league has come down to. [The Warriors] shifted the landscape a lot."
