Some wanted the Sixers to trade Paul George. Good thing they didn’t.

The best part of the NBA's trade deadline day isn't the nap you take after the final buzzer, but the end of people creating fake trade scenarios and begging incessantly for a player they don't like to be traded.

There was barely ever a honeymoon phase between the locals and Paul George. In fairness, by the time he debuted, not like there was much juice left on game days at the Wells Fargo Center. George hasn't quite experienced the local consensus on him in person yet.

But, you didn't have to look too hard to find someone who wanted to see George cast off at the deadline. Yet another reset for this franchise. Another core piece out the window. This time, it would've only lasted 31 games. Quite a sample size!

"As for me, if I'm traded, I'm traded," George told reporters after Wednesday's loss to the Miami Heat.

"There's nothing I can do about it. So, I don't put too much toward that."

He said it into the microphone. Did he really mean it?

It's a business. A sentence you hear over and over again. That's supposed to make up for the disappointment some players undoubtedly feel when they get moved from a conference-leading team to a Play-In team.

Oh shucks, got to uproot the whole family and ship everything around if there's multiple years left on the contract. If it's a contract that expires at the end of the season, you live out of a suitcase in a hotel until that buzzer sounds.

Oh, but they're millionaires playing a game, right? Life can't be that challenging or inconvenient.

Regardless of the size of the wallet - or the designer label on the wallet - they're humans.

Making a multi-year commitment to a franchise, moving across the country, figuring out logistics for your family - from kids all the way to maybe siblings and parents - only to be traded halfway through the first season of the deal can't be something you "don't put too much toward".

What would you even say to justify such a decision? "Oh, we came to regret the contract some seven months after flying to LA in the dead of night to recruit the guy."? Maybe "Oh, we weren't concerned about his injury history back then, but we are now that he's suffered two flukey bone bruises in his knee and a torn tendon in his finger."?

You certainly wouldn't be able to lean into it not being a viable on-court product. The Sixers are outscoring opponents by 2.8 points per 100 possessions with Tyrese Maxey and George on the court together this season, per Cleaning The Glass (CTG).

With the envisioned trio of Joel Embiid, Maxey and George on the court? Plus-5.4 per 100 in 404 possessions, per CTG.

Imagine that. Giving up on a core you've long had your eyes on after 404 possessions.

Of course, hard to give up on something you barely even gave a chance.

Maybe the optics would be OK locally. Around the league? Probably not so much.

What's a free agent going to say when Philadelphia approaches them about a long-term pact? Perhaps demand an above-market contract to compensate for the risk of being dumped so quickly, or a no-trade clause so that the player had some control over the situation?

So, maybe it relieves some anguish in the short term. Not like the returns on George have been all that inspiring thus far. The contract looks cumbersome in year one. But, it's not difficult to forecast how trading George now could lead to road blocks in the future.

Give it more than 404 possessions. It's bad business not to.

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