The sweepstakes for Paul George are ongoing and the storylines are a mix of empty rumors, less empty rumors, negotiation tactics, and posturing – with an occasional drizzle of real information dropped in.
The potential parting of the Clippers and George likely stems from a disagreement over his contract extension. According to reports, the Clippers have been unwilling to offer George the maximum contract available to him under the cap rules of $221 million. Instead, they are pushing for a three-year deal (with a potential discount involved).
The good part for George (and the tricky one for the Clippers) is that he has leverage in this negotiation. Even at age 34, George is playing on an All-Star level and generally makes the team whenever he’s healthy enough to play at least 54 games. George is still a solid defender – even if he’s five years removed from his last All-Defense nod – and his overall game as a shooter and secondary ball-handler is likely to age well.
This makes Paul an attractive target for multiple teams even if paying him around $60 million when he’s 38 isn’t a great resource allocation. If George decides to opt out of his player option for next season, he can in theory sign anywhere there’s cap space. While this is a limited group of teams, it also means George can use this bit of leverage to force his way to a team of his choosing – “trade me to where I want or I just walk for nothing.”
Ultimately, the Clippers may have no choice but to pay up here even if they aren’t excited about it. The alternative will be going after free agents (e.g. DeMar DeRozan) and that’s a clear step down in production for them. Barring a miracle, the Clippers don’t have any replacement that would be as good as George for the upcoming season when they are still hoping to compete for a championship.
The teams that are the best fit for George generally fit into two categories. One, older teams with a championship (or overall competitiveness) window with older stars where the team doesn’t care about potential overpays three or four years down the line, or two, young teams who can eat the salary up for the next couple of years before their teams become naturally more expensive as their top young players are extended beyond their rookie contracts.
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The 76ers aren’t currently considered the favorites to land George – especially considering George alluded to Harden calling Daryl Morey a “liar” and players talking about that during a recent episode of his podcast.
However, George shouldn’t (at least in his outbound communication) be dismissive of the Sixers because they are the source of his leverage. From the two categories mentioned above, the Sixers actually fit both of the criteria. Joel Embiid is 30 years old with a checkered injury history and the time to compete for a championship is now. Also, the 76ers have the cap space to outright sign George in a max deal before signing Tyrese Maxey to his second contract – a move that immediately puts the 76ers in a much tighter spot salary cap-wise going forward.
The fit with George on the 76ers would also be perfect. He’d be the third option with Maxey and Embiid on the floor while taking over more of the playmaking when one (or both) are on the bench. The skillset between their three major contracts wouldn’t overlap either – spreading a team’s salary cap over a big, a wing, and a guard makes a ton of sense.
The other options to sign George outright are bad teams like Detroit that wouldn’t allow him to compete for a deep playoff run.
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A recent frontrunner for George, the Warriors are desperate to make the final years where Stephen Curry is still an All-NBA level player competitive. This is also the reason why the Warriors are reportedly willing to give George the maximum extension he wants.
Getting the move done requires the Warriors to let Klay Thompson walk. This is because of the first and second apron rules that apply to them that make salary-matching in trades difficult. Chris Paul would be used as the bulk of the matching salary with the final year of non-guaranteed $30 million salary and likely Jonathan Kuminga as the bulk of the value the Clippers would receive.
For the Clippers, this trade is an imperfect option but one they’d probably have to agree to if Goerge pushed really hard. Kuminga had a breakout season last year with a jump from 9.9 to 16.1 points from his sophomore season and he’s a versatile player who would help keep the Clippers competitive.
Even the best-case scenario isn’t that attractive to the Clippers. Kuminga might thrive and grow to a larger role with the Clippers, but they’d still be likely to take a step back. In the west, where the Clippers were last season just two wins above the play-in seeding – and teams like Houston, Memphis, and San Antonio improving – being marginally worse may mean missing the playoffs entirely.
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The Thunder are on paper the right kind of destination for George. In practice, it’s likely that George wants to stay on the west coast given his push to get to the Clippers originally and the Warriors becoming the most-rumored destination in the past few days.
With that said, the Thunder are in many ways the best fit for George and his best opportunity to compete for a championship. Chet Holmgren will have to be extended only two seasons from now for 2026-27 and the same applies to Jalen Williams. General manager Sam Presti has been judicious in collecting a treasure-trove of assets and draft picks for the coming years and can easily make the most attractive offer to the Clippers – even without overspending much in terms of picks.
The Thunder could send over some of their depth such as Isaiah Joe and Kenrich Williams along with first-round draft picks that the Clippers can move for other talent in subsequent deals to remain competitive. If Cason Wallace were to be included, that would lower the required picks as well.
The No. 1 seed from last season picking up George without sacrificing most of their core and retaining a solid bench would be a scary team. However, unless George wants to go back to Oklahoma, it’s an unlikely one.
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The Magic are the fourth most likely team right now (outside of the Clippers) per the betting odds to land George. The logic for acquiring George is similar to the Thunder – Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs are all a season away from their second contracts which blows up the team’s cap space.
George would provide the offense with a release valve and a player who can bolster the efficiency all-around. The Magic were ranked 27th in assists per game last season and their core contributors still growing as playmakers. Additionally, the team ranked 24th in three-point shooting percentage with the second-fewest attempts in the entire league. George has shot over 40 percent in three of the past five seasons and can bring spacing to help the Magic offense out.
Defensively, the addition of George would make the Magic one of the most versatile defensive units in the league. Suggs is a big guard and a wing rotation of George, Wagner, and Banchero (along with Jonathan Isaac) is a massive advantage – as shown by the championship Celtics, defensive versatility is a key in the modern game.
All this makes George a perfect fit for a young team looking to have their first deep run in the playoffs.
