Paul George of the Clippers might decide to participate as the deadline draws near.
George, who is eligible for a player option that is worth $48.7 million for the 2024-25 season, is widely anticipated to set off a chain reaction this free agency. Has George decided whether to opt in or not?
By not participating, George is able to experience free will. However, as of late, it seems like fewer and fewer teams are prepared to pay him a cash deal in free agency. Much less coverage has been given to clubs like the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic, and Philadelphia 76ers. It is significant considering the volume of hype throughout the year, but it doesn’t mean those teams don’t still want to sign George to the maximum salary that was rumored.
By opting out of his contract in its final year, George would be free to negotiate a trade that would allow him to sign an extension with his new club. George and the Clippers currently seem to be trending towards the end of their partnership, but there’s always a chance he returns to the team on the more team-friendly deal they’ve been trying to sign him to. More recently, this more plausible scenario of opting in and seeking a trade has gained a lot of steam.
Back in January, Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers surprisingly agreed on a three-year, $150 million deal extension. The team’s best albeit unreliable player declined his player option for the 2024-25 season, signed for less than the max, and also took one fewer year than he could’ve.
The news came from out of nowhere and most of the leverage that Paul George had, or planned to have, gone. On the day of Leonard’s deal announcement in January and one month later just prior the All-Star break, Paul George said that his aim was to sign an agreement with the Clippers and he was optimistic it would get done.
He also, however, intimated that the two sides were not precisely seeing eye to eye on the technicalities, which was causing the delay in the extension. During an April press conference before the start of the NBA Playoffs, George was asked a follow up about his current contract position and if the two sides were tabling talks until after the postseason. George did not answer the question, got up, and left in frustration without answering the question.
Without Kawhi Leonard healthy in the postseason, George was given a perfect opportunity to display his value and lead the Clippers. If he been able to lead the club again without Leonard, the organization may have been more inclined to compensate him. Instead, George turned in his poorest playoff performance since his third season in the NBA, averaging 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists on 41.1 percent shooting from the field and 36.7 percent from three against the Dallas Mavericks.
For a long stretch of the season, George appeared older, slower, and entirely too reliant on his jumpshot without Leonard on the court for the series. Simply simply the jumper wasn’t dropping, George struggled to be efficient on the offensive end.
As ClutchPoints reported back in April, Paul George had coveted the four-year, $221 million max deal from the Clippers. Neither the money nor the years have been on the table from the Clippers in any deal talks, league sources tell ClutchPoints. The agreement offered to George, one source said, was shy of Leonard’s three-year, $150 million pact. That continues to be the case with George now four days away from his opt-in date. From the Clippers’ perspective, numerous aspects go into why this makes sense.
Strictly from a team-building viewpoint, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn’t allow teams to freely spend as much as they wish to assemble the best roster. The introduction of the second apron and the heavy penalties that are linked with being above that threshold have terrified a number of teams into rethinking how they operate.
Additionally, the Clippers were able to draw a line in the sand on any new deal Paul George would be offered when Kawhi Leonard, unquestionably the team’s best player when healthy, inked his new deal for three years and $150 million. The Clippers want to align Leonard, George, and James Harden on comparable three-year deals that would allow them to structure the team accordingly for potential championship runs over the next several years.
Beyond that, George has not helped his case with remarks he’s made throughout the years. He was one of the players that maintained publicly advocating for the Clippers to get a point guard because he couldn’t handle ball-handling responsibilities after claiming that Doc Rivers used him off the ball too much. He also publicly asked for Russell Westbrook and contradicted President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank hours after Frank defined the type of player the team wouldn’t desire.
He publicly questioned what the squad’s identity was during a tough spell in the regular season, provoking confusion and considerable irritation from members of the team. Tyronn Lue made his hardest to hide it, but he instantly contradicted the attitude and was upset at the idea itself, saying, ‘did we not have an identity when we went 26-5?’
Just last week, George claimed a title isn’t his number one concern when considering his future and it’s moreso about, ‘the correct type of game,’ which might be viewed as shot at James Harden’s isolation-heavy form of basketball. He also noted it was frustrating having to do more of a ‘dirty labor’ since the Clippers traded some depth for Harden.
What is Paul George’s Contract Worth?
George doesn’t agree with the LA Clippers’ current school of thinking on his value. According to numerous sources, George and his camp feel there’s a max deal offer for him on the market, and thus believe that’s their leverage with the Clippers. They also believe part of their power is that George has been healthier and more available than Leonard during their Clippers tenure, and is coming off a year in which he shot career highs from the field, from three, and from the free throw line.
He can also say he guided the Clippers the furthest they’ve ever gone in the NBA Playoffs, just two games shy of the NBA Finals in 2021. Additionally, if a team out there is willing to pay George the contract he desires — whether it be as a free agent or in an extension — then George feels that is what he’s worth.
That perspective may flip if the market indicates that he’s not a max contract-worthy player. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2019, Paul George has played in 302 of a possible 435 games for the Clippers, regular season and playoffs. Kawhi Leonard has played in 257 of the possible 435 games for the Clippers in that same span.
Including both regular season and playoffs, Leonard and George have a 137-70 record when they play together, a .662 winning percentage. They’re 124-57 (.685) together in the regular season and just 13-13 (.500) together in the playoffs. Kawhi Leonard & Paul George’s records in their first 5 years together with Clippers: 2019-20: 50 games played (27-10 reg, 7-6 post) 2020-21: 54 games played (32-11 reg, 6-5 post) 2021-22: 0 games 2022-23: 38 games played (24-14 reg, 0-0 post) 2023-24: 65 games played (41-22…
Leonard and George’s connection is likewise deemed great. The two have gotten along quite well over the years both on as well as off the court and recognize both have just dealt with poor luck and injuries at most inconvenient moments. The Clippers and George would both like to continue their collaboration as well, sincerely believing there still a road to championship contention with him, Leonard, and James Harden on a restructured squad, one person said.
In Los Angeles, George is home and has the ability to be close to his family, particularly his parents, who attend nearly every Clippers home game. George’s mother suffered a stroke when he was just six years old and needed a wheelchair to get about. He and his family also make it a point to entertain a handful of families who have been touched by a stroke every Christmas to a wonderful night of food, games, tons of gifts, and — more than anything else — support. Would George consider leaving all this over a couple million dollars?
Paul George hosted his 6th Annual Christmas Celebration at Dave & Buster’s, where 5 families who a stroke within their family has impacted. Each family received Nike PG6’s, PG jerseys, children’s wish list items, Clippers tickets for everyone, and free games at D&B’s.
The Clippers want George to stay and George wants to stay with the Clippers. They just clearly want to do it on different terms. These negotiations are just highlighting the business and strategic sides of the NBA under the new CBA.
As the June 29th deadline to opt in or out of his deal nears with no max offer from the Clippers, the increasingly likely scenario is that that Paul George will opt in and request a trade with the goal of finding a team that will provide him the contract he wants. There is always the chance that George agrees to the extension the Clippers put on the table before the Saturday deadline, but that appears like the least likely scenario as of Tuesday afternoon.
Reports from last week suggested that the Philadelphia 76ers’ interest in Paul George has, ‘waned,’ over the last few weeks. Sources told ClutchPoints that Philadelphia’s interest in George remains very strong, but they also want to keep other options open in the event that George returns to Los Angeles or opts into the last year of his deal.
Last summer, there were reports about the New York Knicks inquiring about a Paul George deal, but were believed to be scared off when they found out he was looking for a four-year max agreement. It’s hard to picture a team making George the deal he desires, but these next few days will be telling.
Free agency is expected to begin on June 30th at 3PM PST. With the NBA Draft this week as well, this will be an extraordinarily busy week in the NBA that may be waiting on the domino that is Paul George.