Tag: pg

New day, new deluge of Sixers rumors to get to. The 2024 NBA Draft is now less than a week away. Unlike last season, when Daryl Morey was going radio silent on James Harden hoping he’d opt into his one-year player option, teams are now legally allowed to negotiate with their own free agents.

But the Clippers haven’t appeared to gain any traction on keeping their nine-time All-Star, Paul George. (Emoji eyes).

Let’s do a Sixers rumor roundup focused solely on the SoCal native’s potential relocation to Philly.

Photo by Jim Cowsert/NBAE via Getty Images

Okay, so you already know Embiid stole NBA Finals headlines by recruiting PG with a dashing and mischievous smile on national TV days before Boston put the finishing touches on the Mavs.

That marked somewhat of a key change in Embiid’s offseason demeanor. He was no longer staying silent or looking for mere #dawgs like P.J. Tucker. Now he has his sights set on a much bigger fish.

Recent local L.A. reporting

According to Tomer Azarly for ClutchPoints, June 19:

“…there is no indication the Clippers are prepared to drop a max … that offer has not been on the table in recent months and there’s nothing to indicate that line of thinking has changed….George feels that he’s still worth a max contract and, as one league source told ClutchPoints, that Leonard’s three-year, $150 million shouldn’t affect his own.”

Mirjam Swanson, from the SoCal Nes Group, believes the Clippers and George are heading toward a divorce: “that’s why it’s starting to feel, after staring at the tea leaves trying to stitch together a predictive pattern for the past few months, like they’re headed for a divorce.”

The columnist working the Clips beat added, as recently as June 20:

“The 76ers, who are among the collection of teams in contention mode, could – and pretty clearly would – offer George a max deal of four years and $212.2 million. So could the Magic, with whom George could flourish, playing relatively pressure-free basketball – and, in either scenario, paying significantly less state income tax than he would in California.

The Clippers know this. And they’re letting it be known that they’re fine with it.

Perhaps they’re assuming the Palmdale product will find it in his heart to take a hometown discount? I don’t know, though. It’s not been the warmest homecoming; the guy gets booed every time he appears on a Jumbotron outside of Crypto.com Arena….”

Another local voice, Justin Russo, via Substack, sang a similar tune as Azarly and Swanson.

Per Russo, some sourced intel, from Juneteenth:

“[Kawhi Leonard’s January extension] left George out in the cold, awaiting his own fresh deal. It has yet to come, and sources tell Russo Writes at the time of this writing that the two sides…. have grown no closer to agreeing on a new contract for the 34-year-old.”

“…as was first reported by yours truly at Russo Writes in April, George told a rival player late in the season that money is what matters the most to him during these negotiations, not playing close to home.”

George has until June 29 to decide on his player option. At the moment of this writing, George is likely to decline it, a source not authorized to speak publicly on the matter tells Russo Writes.

“..it feels like the marriage is ready to dissolve….”

Did you catch that line? PG told a rival player late in the year that money talks, not playing close to home. (Double emoji eyes).

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently speculated that the Clips think PG is “bluffing” about wanting the money and being willing to leave. Russo’s report suggests otherwise.

National voices weigh in

On a June 19 pod where Marc Stein hosted Chris Haynes, Haynes reminded us that with a new arena opening this coming season the Clippers “…. want all their horses in the fold. They want to have a championship-caliber team going into that arena for next season…” but Haynes adds that PG leaving would be a game changer. In that scenario, Haynes could even see the team pivoting to a name like DeMar DeRozan, another L.A. native.

Stein adds ice water: “I can’t see George leaving…but… they clearly want Paul George to come in under the max, …they clearly want George at their price….” and Stein reminds listeners that hasn’t happened yet.

From PG himself

And of course, amid all of this speculation, George, perhaps in negotiation mode, is doing little to make either side feel extra comfortable.

One nugget now going viral was delivered from PG two weeks ago on the “Podcast P with Paul George.”

Former Blazers’ star Zach Randolph references the Daryl Morey-James Harden divorce as an example of an organization not being straight up with a player.

Minutes after Z-Bo’s point, after discussing his own experiences with perceived front office betrayals, George adds, on the general subject of F.O. chicanery:

“Believe it or not like, players talk, you know what I mean. And then reputations go around, like, ‘hey man, I don’t know about going to this place, because they shit, watch yo’ back, you know what I mean?’ That’s the conversations you have.”

So no, he wasn’t directly responding to the Morey-Harden thing. But you don’t have to use mental telepathy to piece together what Harden has expressed to PG about his own recent divorce with the Sixers’ current President of B-Ball Ops. The question is, would PG care enough to take less? And if so, how much less?

Money talks

According to Spotrac, PG has about $305,332,086M in career earnings. Celebrity Net Worth has ventured he’s worth an estimated $90M.

So if C.N.W is even remotely on the scent here, it makes sense why an extra $30-$40M would sway PG. (If you had $90K in the bank, your last great chance to add an additional $30K, regardless of your career-to-date earnings, might be very important to you.)

If Morey dropped a $212M offer at the first second of free agency making clear PG is his top priority, while the Clippers came in with a significantly lower figure, adhering to some invisible pecking order where PG is beneath Leonard, maybe PG could find a way to trust Daryl. Too bad the Sixers couldn’t offer PG an expiring two-year no-trade-clause.

***OR*** maybe PG is already sick of Harden, lol, get this…

The Athletic’s Law Murray appeared on The Athletic NBA show. Murray thinks he loves L.A. and that his body performs better in warm weather but wants the team to get younger. “But I think Paul wants his money,” Murray concludes.

So is PG sick of Harden already?

PG on play style

PG was asked about what he’s prioritizing with FA on the horizon:

“For sure contributing to winning basketball. I mean at this point… It’s not even about… Like people are saying, ‘chasing a championship.’ Like, it’s not that. But it’s playing the right style of basketball is what I’m chasing.”

The quintessential 3-and-D wing added more context that all seems a bit “anti-Beard:”

“We started the year off rolling, we started year off hot….

“And then we traded to get James [Harden] and it’s not James’ fault of why I think we struggled, but the lost part of that was we lost [Robert Covington] we lost Nico [Batum]. Those were our glue guys….So again, it had nothing to do with grabbing James, it was more so losing those guys. KJ Martin as well…. RoCo was huge for us. Nico was huge for us. So you plug those guys around myself, Kawhi, and [Russell Westbrook] they did a lot of the dirty work. And now you grab James, who is super talented offensively, now myself, Kawhi, we become the dirty guys. Now we have to score too. I think it was just a lot that we were trying to balance and manage at that point.

“But again, it had nothing to do with James. James I thought was awesome for us.”

Lol, Not that there’s anything wrong with James! He’s a fine player!

We’ve come a long way

In early May, Shams Charania reported that “this Clippers team fully intends to keep this group together, they want to bring back Paul George as a free agent or give him an extension, but they have not been able to reach an agreement….”

A week later, Shams shared that people around the NBA “have the belief” George wants to remain a Clipper.

PG himself even noted he’d love to have his jersey retired in both Indy and L.A.

Adrian Wojnarowski also reported on May 29 that the Boats are “determined to keep” the 14-year vet.

Jake Fischer, for Yahoo, on May 24 reported:

“The Clippers, sources said, remain hopeful through continuous dialogue that George and his representatives will agree to terms with his incumbent franchise.” But Fischer added that if there is no max, PG might walk. He also reported: “Rival teams and agents are conducting business, sources said, under the impression the Clippers aren’t keen on committing to guaranteed money beyond the three-year window of Leonard’s deal that runs through 2026-27.”

Now this….

Conclusion

If the Clippers are hoping or assuming PG will give them a hometown discount, it’s one very dangerous game they’re playing.

In the three-plus weeks since top dogs Woj, Shams and Fischer made clear L.A. wants to keep this group together, it feel as if everything has shifted. Or nothing has shifted, and that’s a really big deal.

Are the Clippers reluctant but secretly willing to pay full price, in mere hopes of getting him on a lower all-in number? A “Tobias Harris special” maybe? Remember, (or better yet forget) Harris in 2019 was eligible to sign a $197M five-year deal but he ultimately signed for $180M. Is that something the Clippers might have in mind? $180M for four years? What if they offered $195? Would that get it done? In similar situations with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, the Clippers benefitted from the star player opting in then being traded — allowing L.A. to at least recoup assets and flexibility. That’s how they got Kawhi and PG in the first place. Perhaps that’s what they’d like most.

Has PG been communicating to them that there is a number below a max but he doesn’t want to play with Harden anymore? Would letting James walk and keeping PG be the cleanest way to alleviate these second-apron hell concerns?

Every day that passes (with no bomb that they’re going to make him a truly competitive offer) must ring like a silent symphony to Morey and Embiid’s star-hunting ears.

There is so much smoke to this fire that I almost feel compelled to wrap it up with a dead fish prediction: the Sixers are still highly unlikely to land PG, and if they do they’ll be highly unlikely to win a title. That’s the safest bet, sadly. If PG wants to stay, and they want him, chances are they will settle upon some large figure that satisfies all parties. And there’s always other teams lurking.

But holy shit, the Sixers might really get Paul George, and still keep some of their five draft picks. What do you think, maybe 30 percent?