The sweepstakes for Paul George are ongoing and the storylines are a mixture of empty rumors, much less empty rumors, negotiation ways, and posturing – with an occasional drizzle of actual info dropped in.
The potential parting of the Clippers and George possible stems from a disagreement over his contract extension. In response to studies, the Clippers have been unwilling to supply George the utmost contract accessible to him underneath the cap guidelines of $221 million. As an alternative, they’re pushing for a three-year deal (with a possible low cost concerned).
The nice half for George (and the tough one for the Clippers) is that he has leverage on this negotiation. Even at age 34, George is taking part in on an All-Star stage and customarily makes the crew every time he’s wholesome sufficient to play at the least 54 video games. George continues to be a strong defender – even when he’s 5 years faraway from his final All-Protection nod – and his general sport as a shooter and secondary ball-handler is prone to age properly.
This makes Paul a beautiful goal for a number of groups even when paying him round $60 million when he’s 38 isn’t a terrific useful resource allocation. If George decides to decide out of his participant choice for subsequent season, he can in concept signal anyplace there’s cap area. Whereas it is a restricted group of groups, it additionally means George can use this little bit of leverage to drive his solution to a crew of his selecting – “commerce me to the place I would like or I simply stroll for nothing.”
Finally, the Clippers might don’t have any selection however to pay up right here even when they aren’t enthusiastic about it. The choice can be going after free brokers (e.g. DeMar DeRozan) and that’s a transparent step down in manufacturing for them. Barring a miracle, the Clippers don’t have any alternative that will be nearly as good as George for the upcoming season when they’re nonetheless hoping to compete for a championship.
The groups which are one of the best match for George typically match into two classes. One, older groups with a championship (or general competitiveness) window with older stars the place the crew doesn’t care about potential overpays three or 4 years down the road, or two, younger groups who can eat the wage up for the subsequent couple of years earlier than their groups grow to be naturally costlier as their prime younger gamers are prolonged past their rookie contracts.
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The 76ers aren’t presently thought of the favorites to land George – particularly contemplating George alluded to Harden calling Daryl Morey a “liar” and gamers speaking about that in a current episode of his podcast.
Nonetheless, George shouldn’t (at the least in his outbound communication) be dismissive of the Sixers as a result of they’re the supply of his leverage. From the 2 classes talked about above, the Sixers truly match each of the factors. Joel Embiid is 30 years outdated with a checkered harm historical past and the time to compete for a championship is now. Additionally, the 76ers have the cap area to outright signal George in a max deal earlier than signing Tyrese Maxey to his second contract – a transfer that instantly places the 76ers in a a lot tighter spot wage cap-wise going ahead.
The match with George on the 76ers would even be excellent. He’d be the third choice with Maxey and Embiid on the ground whereas taking up extra of the playmaking when one (or each) are on the bench. The skillset between their three main contracts wouldn’t overlap both – spreading a crew’s wage cap over a giant, a wing, and a guard makes a ton of sense.
The opposite choices to signal George outright are dangerous groups like Detroit that wouldn’t enable him to compete for a deep playoff run.
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A current frontrunner for George, the Warriors are determined to make the ultimate years the place Stephen Curry continues to be an All-NBA stage participant aggressive. That is additionally the rationale why the Warriors are reportedly prepared to offer George the utmost extension he needs.
Getting the transfer accomplished requires the Warriors to let Klay Thompson stroll. That is due to the primary and second apron guidelines that apply to them that make salary-matching in trades tough. Chris Paul can be used as the majority of the matching wage with the ultimate 12 months of non-guaranteed $30 million wage and certain Jonathan Kuminga as the majority of the worth the Clippers would obtain.
For the Clippers, this commerce is an imperfect choice however one they’d most likely must conform to if Goerge pushed actually exhausting. Kuminga had a breakout season final 12 months with a bounce from 9.9 to 16.1 factors from his sophomore season and he’s a flexible participant who would assist maintain the Clippers aggressive.
Even the best-case situation isn’t that engaging to the Clippers. Kuminga would possibly thrive and develop to a bigger function with the Clippers, however they’d nonetheless be prone to take a step again. Within the west, the place the Clippers had been final season simply two wins above the play-in seeding – and groups like Houston, Memphis, and San Antonio enhancing – being marginally worse might imply lacking the playoffs totally.
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The Thunder are on paper the correct of vacation spot for George. In apply, it’s possible that George needs to remain on the west coast given his push to get to the Clippers initially and the Warriors turning into the most-rumored vacation spot prior to now few days.
With that mentioned, the Thunder are in some ways one of the best match for George and his greatest alternative to compete for a championship. Chet Holmgren must be prolonged solely two seasons from now for 2026-27 and the identical applies to Jalen Williams. Normal supervisor Sam Presti has been considered in amassing a treasure-trove of belongings and draft picks for the approaching years and might simply take advantage of engaging provide to the Clippers – even with out overspending a lot by way of picks.
The Thunder may ship over a few of their depth similar to Isaiah Joe and Kenrich Williams together with first-round draft picks that the Clippers can transfer for different expertise in subsequent offers to stay aggressive. If Cason Wallace had been to be included, that will decrease the required picks as properly.
The No. 1 seed from final season choosing up George with out sacrificing most of their core and retaining a strong bench can be a scary crew. Nonetheless, until George needs to return to Oklahoma, it’s an unlikely one.
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The Magic are the fourth more than likely crew proper now (outdoors of the Clippers) per the betting odds to land George. The logic for buying George is just like the Thunder – Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs are all a season away from their second contracts which blows up the crew’s cap area.
George would supply the offense with a launch valve and a participant who can bolster the effectivity all-around. The Magic had been ranked twenty seventh in assists per sport final season and their core contributors nonetheless rising as playmakers. Moreover, the crew ranked twenty fourth in three-point capturing share with the second-fewest makes an attempt in all the league. George has shot over 40 % in three of the previous 5 seasons and might deliver spacing to assist the Magic offense out.
Defensively, the addition of George would make the Magic one of the versatile defensive items within the league. Suggs is a giant guard and a wing rotation of George, Wagner, and Banchero (together with Jonathan Isaac) is a large benefit – as proven by the championship Celtics, defensive versatility is a key within the fashionable sport.
All this makes George an ideal match for a younger crew seeking to have their first deep run within the playoffs.