Heading into free agency, the Philadelphia 76ers had money to spend, roster spots to fill, and a concerted desire to build a winner around Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Ricky Council IV, Adem Bona, Jared McCain, and Paul Reed, who was still on the roster at the time.
Fast forward ten days into July, and Daryl Morey has effectively doubled the size of his roster, re-signing Kelly Oubre to go along with free agent additions Eric Gordon, Caleb Martin, and Andre Drummond.
… oh yeah, they also signed Paul George, one of the greatest Philly free agent signings of all time, who left LA on a four-year, $212 million max contract.
That's right, after Morey spent a year preaching the value of cap space, a plan so up-in-the-air that even Embiid wasn't 100 percent sure it would work, Philly landed the biggest fish in the free agent pond and a half decade after Brett Brown declared his team was going “big game hunting” the prize has officially arrived.
Standing 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, with long arms and an icy jumper, George is a nine-time All-Star, a six-time All-NBA player, a four-time All-Defensive player, and the 2018-19 steal champion, to go with plenty of other anecdotes worth celebrating. He's a career 38.5 percent 3-point shooter on very good volume, a 2.1 stocks per game pickpocket, and a performer who has averaged at least 21.5 points per game in each of the last nine seasons split between Indiana, OKC, and LA.
Factor in that George plays the most in-demand position in the NBA, a 3-and-D wing, and that he can score from anywhere on the court, and you're left with the most decorated free agent signing in franchise history.
Is George a perfect addition to the team? Not necessarily; he's already 34, has missed time with injuries in darn near every season, and has openly admitted that he would like to have stayed in LA if they offered the same contract. Still, considering the market, Philly's timeline, and their desire to field something good quickly to capitalize on Embiid's prime, the 76ers couldn't have signed a better player in 2024 to help out their roster, making his addition an A+ success.
LA negotiated Paul George to the Philadelphia 76ers
Discussing his near-year-long negotiation process to remain in Los Angeles on his Podcast P with Paul George, PG-13 laid out how he ended up in Philadelphia, which seemingly had more to do with what the Clippers put on the table as opposed to what the 76ers pitched.
“Just to put it out there, like, I never wanted to leave LA. Initially I was not trying to leave LA. LA is home, this is where I wanted to finish at. I wanted to work as hard as possible to win one in LA. That was the goal, to be here and be committed to LA,” Paul George explained via Yahoo.
“As it played out though, like the first initial deal was, I thought, kind of disrespectful. Again, in all of this, no hard feelings, no love lost. It's a business.
“So the first initial deal was like two years, $60 [million]. So I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. … So I'm like, nah. I'm not signing that.”
Continuing his conversation, George noted that he continued to negotiate with the Clippers despite being offered a deal at $40 million less than his max, with his camp willing to agree to a deal in line with Kawhi Leonard's deal.
“Then I hear wind of what they're going to give Kawhi. So, I'm like, ‘just give me what Kawhi got. Y'all view us the same. We came here together, we want to finish this s*** together. I'll take what Kawhi got.' No problem. I was cool with that,” George continued.
“And we were still taking less [than max contract value]. Kawhi took less. I was like if Kawhi's gonna take less, I'm not gonna say I want more that Kawhi. It's not about me being paid more than him. I'm gonna take what he got. Y'all give him that, give me that. They didn't want to do that.”
Why did the Clippers play such hardball with one of their top two players? Did they low-key want to blow up the roster and opted to position that choice like it was thrust upon them by the second apron, instead of due to a lack of faith in George being a winning player at this stage of his career? Or did the team instead hold true to their guns and let George walk over a fourth year and/or a non-compete clause? Either way, it's clear LA's loss is Philadelphia's gain, and no one in the City of Brotherly Love will complain one bit, at least now.
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