Paul George to sign with 76ers, ends five-year stint in Los Angeles
The star's time in Los Angeles has come to an end.
The Paul George era with the LA Clippers is over.
George, who played five years and 301 games back home in Los Angeles, intends to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers when free agency begins on July 6. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news Sunday on social media. The 34-year-old will receive a full four-year, $212 million maximum contract.
The LA Clippers released a statement on Sunday evening outlining the choice by George to change teams and thanking him for his years with the organization.
A source close to the situation tells Russo Writes that the Clippers never budged from their three-year contract offer to George. As was first reported by yours truly in this space back in April, staying close to home was not the end-all, be-all for George, but rather the ability to get one last max contract took priority:
A source tells Russo Writes that George had discussions with a player on a rival team in recent weeks that home is indeed not what matters most to him but rather the financial aspect of a new deal.
George, who turned 34 in May, averaged 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists across 74 games this past season with the Clippers while posting career-high marks in field goal percentage (.471), three-point percentage (.413), and free throw percentage (.907). But George struggled for a great deal of the postseason, averaging just 19.5 points on 41.1 percent shooting. George scored under 20 points in three of the six games during the first-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
The star was slated to take meetings on Sunday night with the Clippers, 76ers, and Orlando Magic.
The Clippers, as a result of George opting to take his talents to the City of Brotherly Love, will now not only dip under the NBA’s dreaded second apron but also under the luxury tax, which paves the way for the franchise to have improved flexibility and roster maneuverability this offseason and going forward thanks to both the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception.
The second apron was a talking point with Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank when he met with reporters on Thursday following the second round of the NBA Draft.
“When your better players are in their 30s and you’re trying to build a sustainable roster, it impacts it,” Frank told reporters. “Like, if there was no CBA, with Steve Ballmer, look, it would be carte blanche. I mean, all you guys would be getting whatever you wanted. But this is the reality that, as we talked about before with the new CBA, it’s not even about the money as it is, how are you going to build a sustainable roster [and] maintain your tools to have transactional flexibility? And with that comes really, really hard decisions.”
Paul George’s decision has allowed the Clippers to find a way under the punitive second apron and a pathway to operate under the luxury tax even if they add plentiful talent through various means should they so choose, something that could entice the organization considering they are a repeater tax team.
The Clippers and George never got reasonably close enough for either side to feel comfortable enough to bridge the gap in negotiations, a league source tells Russo Writes. George anchored in on wanting four years and maximum money while the organization never waivered in their commitment to sticking to a maximum of three-year deals to align their three stars with one another—Kawhi Leonard signed for three years and $150 million in January while James Harden agreed to a two-year, $70 million deal on Sunday afternoon.
The last time George had talked about his contract situation with media was prior to the start of the team’s first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks. George, who was holding a basketball in his hands as he sat at the press conference table, was noncommital, stating that thinking about his extension wasn’t “where I’m at mentally right now.”
That press conference would end with George being asked a follow-up question about contract negotiations. George requested that the reporter repeat the question, to which George then got up and left without answering.
It indeed appears that April afternoon was not the last time George would take his ball and depart so abruptly.
This developing story will be updated with more details as they become available.