Sources say 76ers will be the first to sign Paul George

The 76ers are in a good position to land Paul George after he informed the Clippers that he will be leaving the free-agent market.

By Ohm Youngmisuk

Jul 01, 2024 12:00 AM

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Philadelphia 76ers is in a strong position to sign Paul George as a free-agent deal. This comes after George told the Clippers he would be signing with another club.

Aaron Mintz, George’s CAA agent spoke to Los Angeles Clippers president Lawrence Frank on Sunday night. The deal did not move. A subsequent statement from the Clippers stated that George had decided to go forward.

Wojnarowski said that according to sources, a Sixers team will be meeting George in California Sunday evening.

The Clippers issued a statement stating that Paul informed them that he had signed a new deal with a different club. During that period, he participated in three All-Star Games as well as making the most 3-pointers recorded by the team. The Clippers are grateful for his contributions to the team, especially in Games 5 and 6 against Utah.

Although we did not achieve our goal, we are grateful for the opportunity to work with Paul.

George made his decision after The Clippers described a “significant gap in contract negotiations”. George had the option to sign a contract extension of up to four years and $221 million any time during this season.

George thought he would get his own extension after Leonard and the Clippers had agreed to a three-year contract extension in January worth $150 million. “

George is able to sign a four-year contract worth $212,000,000 with teams that have a salary cap.

According to ESPN, sources told the network that, after agreeing to a two-year, $70 million deal with James Harden, a free agent point guard , the Clippers also considered a trade where George would be required to exercise his $48.8 million player option before Saturday’s deadline.

Given that the new collective contract is punishing to teams such as the Clippers, who pay taxes, the organization has been cautious in its approach to roster building.

In a press release, the Clippers said that their roster for this offseason consisted of three players older than 33 years old. Two of them could be free agents. “We wanted to keep them under contracts that would allow us to rebuild the team within the new CBA restrictions.

We spent months trying to negotiate a fair contract with Paul and his representative, but the difference in our views was so great that we were unable to reach an agreement. The assets were of very little value to justify the restrictions. “

Leonard and George’s era is over with George’s departure. Leonard joined the Clippers in summer 2019 as a free agent. The Clippers made a massive deal to acquire George.

The Clippers had to make a number of sacrifices to acquire the All-Star Wing. The Clippers sent Shai Galinari and Danilo Gallinari, as well as first-round picks in 2022, 2020 and 2026 that were not protected, and first-round swaps of 2023 and 2025. They also sent the Oklahoma City Thunder unprotected picks in the first round of 2021 and 2023 via the Miami Heat.

The Clippers made only one Western Conference Finals in the five years before 2021.

George was injured and did not play, while Leonard was hurt after two games in a five-game series with the a data-clubhouse-guid=”c6eade89-5971-0e84-8ccb-9cd91482b2b50″>Phoenix Suns/a> in 2023. Leonard suffered an injury after playing two games of a five game series in 2023 with the Phoenix Suns. Leonard missed three out of six games between the Dallas Mavericks and George this year.

Without George, the Clippers will be entering free agency with a midlevel exemption of $12.9 millions dollars and a biannual exception of $4.7million.

George will be hard to replace for the Clippers. Nine-time All Star George averaged 22.6% on the field and 41.3% from 3-point range last season. He also shot career highs of 47.1% at the line and 90.7%.

The Clippers said they would now explore their options in order to remain a playoff team with Leonard Harden, and the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

The team said, “We’ll miss Paul.” The team stated, “We will miss Paul.” “