Free agency starts in just under a week and while there are some good players who are on the market, James Harden, Klay Thompson and OG Anunoby just to name a few, there are none better than Clippers wing Paul George. George is still an elite player even at age 34 and with the Clippers not willing to meet his contract demands, an exit has never seemed more likely.
In the summer of 2019, George and Kawhi Leonard, who was coming off an NBA Championship and Finals MVP with the Toronto Raptors, forced their way to the Clippers. Leonard was a free agent and wanted to team up with George in Los Angeles as both are from the L.A. area. George was under contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Thunder knew that the Clippers needed to make a deal. As a result, George was sent to the Clippers in exchange for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, 5 future first round picks and 2 future pick swaps. An historic haul for Oklahoma City and the Clippers designed their duo. 5 years later and just 3 playoff series wins, including 0 since the start of the 2021-22 season, to show for it and the Clippers are stuck. Harden, who was acquired in October, and George are free agents, they both need new deals and the Clippers are reluctant to pay max deals due to the 2nd apron and all the restrictions that come with that. Being in the 2nd apron prevents teams from stacking salaries in trades, does not allow teams to take back more money than they are sending in trades, freezes a future 1st round draft pick so you can’t trade them and only allows you to sign free agents for the veteran minimum. It makes it extremely hard to improve your team when you are over the 2nd apron. While Harden has not been eligible to sign a new deal, George has been eligible to sign a 4yr/$221 million deal since July and likely would have signed said deal if it was offered, yet there is no deal. In January, the Clippers and Leonard agreed to a 3yr/$150 million deal and it is believed that L.A. doesn't want to go past that number with George due to the 2nd apron.
The simplest option for George is to opt-out and sign a free agent contract, where the Philadelphia 76ers and their max cap space are lurking. The max for George to sign with the Sixers is a 4yr/$212.2 million deal. While there is a report that the Sixers interest in George has cooled down, I think that would be quite silly for the Sixers to do. They have held this cap space open for a 3rd star and George is the perfect compliment to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. He can space the floor and run pick and roll on offense with Embiid if that is what the Sixers need him to do. Now, there would be a lot of pressure for George entering this situation and he recently talked on his podcast about how he just wants to play basketball and be in a good fit, not necessarily pursue championships. Maybe this is code for he does not want to have too much pressure at this point of his career or maybe he just wants to have fun playing basketball. If that is the case Philly is not a good landing spot but I don’t think that is what he meant. I just think that all the signs point to this happening, it is a good fit, Philly has the cap space and George is seemingly out the door in L.A. We will see what happens but George jumping to the Sixers as a free agent seems like it has a really good chance.
Paul George has a player option on his contract so this allows him to opt-in and get traded as we have seen with many stars in the past. Notably, Kristaps Porzingis and Chris Paul have done this, and Paul did it with these very same Clippers. This would open up George’s market to a bunch more teams. Most notably, the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks. Golden State’s path to George is complicated. They would need to waive Chris Paul, he has a non-guaranteed $30 million this upcoming season, and renounce Klay Thompson’s bird rights, letting him walk as a free agent. They could then package Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney and 1st round draft picks in 2026 and 2028 for George. This could be complicated by Kevon Looney’s guarantee date, which is June 24th (the date of this writing) so any deal involving Looney is probably off the table unless they decide to guarantee his $8 million for the 2024-25 season. Jonathan Kuminga slides into that salary slot but Kuminga is too valuable to include in this trade to me. The Knicks path is simple. Julius Randle needs to be a part of the deal, package him with either Josh Hart or Mitchell Robinson and draft compensation and that deal comes together easily. The Houston Rockets could offer Dillion Brooks, Jalen Green and Jeff Green but that seems like they would be moving too fast and moving those guys for George would be a deal that is rushed.
Paul George can be a free agent and there still is no deal done with the Clippers. He can opt-out and just sign with someone, a.k.a. the Philadelphia 76ers, or he can opt-in and be traded to a new team. Whichever one it is, my bet right now is that George will not be a Clipper come opening night.
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