Finally, we have another key piece to this puzzle. Just as it felt like “Paul George to the Sixers” might actually have some legs, Shams Charania dropped off the turnbuckle to elbow-drop superteam-hungry Sixers fans.
Charania tweeted that suddenly the Sixers’ interest in Paul George has “significantly waned.”
So wait? That nine-time All-Star we’ve heard was your primary option all offseason long? Ya’ll just WANED like a crescent moon?! What happened? Did you finally listen to his whining on podcasts about having to do too much heavy lifting and too much dirty work and also not having enough help? Just too much Doc Rivers energy for ya’ll?
Many of us spent some time Thursday evening working through possibilities because no further context was provided from Shams or any other top reporters.
Did the team just get a hard ‘no’ from PG’s camp and decide to get ahead of the news cycle with some you can’t dump us we’re dumping you jawn? Is it remotely possible Daryl Morey and the Sixers actually just lost interest?
Did another more exciting player suddenly drop in price? But even still, why not leave the idea you can go grab PG using cap space alive while you haggle with Danny Ainge for Lauri Markkanen?
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has been our go-to for intel over the last few weeks on this situation. Here is what Windy had to say on Friday morning on “Get Up,” per Austin Krell on Twitter:
“So, this is sort of setting up to the Clippers basically are positioning themselves to call Paul George’s bluff here. They have not been willing to meet Paul George’s price. He remains un-signed. You can’t just look at teams with salary cap space. If Paul George changes teams, it’s very likely going to be a situation where he opts into his contract and requests a trade. The Clippers have an offer on the table that is believed to be similar to what they gave Kawhi Leonard, which is a 3-year deal at just below the max. They believe he doesn’t want to leave LA. They believe he wants to stay in his hometown under those terms. That’s where we’re at. Is Paul George going to actually walk over getting an extra year and more money or does he want to stay where he’s comfortable alongside Kawhi Leonard? That is one of the biggest questions in the NBA as we head toward July 1. The Clippers, they have had a great opportunity here to close this deal with a full offer. They have not made it. We’ll watch how it plays out.
Prior to hearing this, I think many of us concluded the team had simply received some sort of clear signal from PG’s camp he’s not interested. And so they thought about jumping in front of the news bomb to maybe twist the narrative.
Mimics annoying talking head: the Sixers couldn’t sell Paul George or LeBron James on playing in Philadelphia back in 2018 (pauses annoyingly long for emphasis, before basically screaming into your living room) and they STRUCK OUT AGAIN in 2024!!! Daryl Morey’s stubborn pursuit of stars backfires and you in that chair are a loser for cheering for this team! Now Brandon Ingram is the fallback plan! WOMP WOMP.
Maybe they could at least spare us all, themselves, and Ingram 3 percent of that stuff?
But now it seems a lot more nuanced.
If a $221M max offer is not coming fom the Clippers, PG could still position himself for a total all-in number approaching that total if he opted in and then received a max (or near max) extension from an acquiring-via-trade team.
As of now Philly can offer him $212M. If he opted in and they traded for him then extended him the sum would be around that $220M mark.
So this hypothetical new team, if he opts in and gets moved, would then possess PG’s Bird Rights so they could offer him 8% raises — instead of the 5% raises a team like Philadelphia or Orlando can offer. The difference may “only” be about $12M, and would add some injury risk (he wouldn’t be eligible for extension for another six months so he’d have to survive through January at the earliest), but from PG’s POV, maybe you’d prefer the idea of having lots of options instead of just two or three.
Allowing teams like the New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, or perhaps Miami Heat to jump into the mix along with L.A., Philly and Orlando can’t hurt the cause, right? Then the Clippers would at least get some assets too.
“Here lies W.C. Fields: I would rather take $48M and pray for a trade than take $212M to live in Philadelphia.”
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) June 21, 2024
So in essence, PG may be saying: I do want a max. But I don’t reallllly want to play in Philly. I think I can get as much or even more money by steering my way to a team like the Knicks or Heat.
And in order to do so, he may have to convince the Clippers that he’d leave them if they did not trade them.
For example, “either sign-and-trade me to the Knicks for Julius Randle and picks, or I sign outright in Philly or Orlando.”
Viewed through that type of lens, assuming the Sixers offered Shams some intel yesterday, maybe you’d describe the “waning interest” bomb as both nearly true and playing some Conference Rival defense.
Throws Morey voice: “Yes, if you’re opting in we do have much, much less interest. We loved the idea of maxing you but not maxing you AND giving L.A. our draft war-chest.”
But the public messaging — leaning on Shams’ voice— also serves (using Windy’s poker bluff metaphor) as a blocking bet.
Throws Elton Brand’s voice: “if he won’t commit to us, we’re not going to let PG leverage our $212M to steer himself to the Heat or Knicks. So Shams, you tell em’ we’re probably moving on.”
Elton hangs up the phone as Morey explains the whole play to Josh Harris: “again that’s IF he opts in. If he opts in, then we’re not involved. They’ll want too many picks. But of course, we’re hoping he opts out and that our Shams bomb here decreases his leverage…then he can still take our money (winks).”
So if you’re weird like me and you have an eight-foot abacus and Ouija board you use to predict this stuff, and you enact imaginary little plays where your stuffed animals are Daryl Morey and Elton Brand talking into cell phones, then I think you have lots more to work with today than you did yesterday.