The Los Angeles Clippers will find out what star Paul George plans to do in the next couple of weeks. The forward has a player option for the 2024-25 season, and he has until June 30th to decide on it.
George has one year and $48.7 million left on his previous four-year, $196 million extension with the Clippers, which he signed back in December of 2020. At age 34, the 14-year NBA veteran is looking to secure one final long-term deal that would take him to age 38 and near the end of his professional basketball career.
During the 2023-24 season, Paul George averaged 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on 47.1 percent shooting from the field, 41.3 percent from three, and 90.7 percent from the free throw line. The efficiency — from the field, from three, and from the free throw line — were all career-highs for George.
Podcast P Comments
During Wednesday's episode of Podcast P, Paul George was asked by his co-host what his future will look like and what he's prioritizing as free agency nears.
“I mean, for sure contributing to winning basketball,” Paul George said on his podcast. “But, I mean at this point… I'm not even necessarily… 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.”
So not a championship. And no mention of the financial side of things. Only, ‘the right style of basketball?'
It's just another day where quotes from George leave everyone a little confused and dejected.
Earlier in the episode, George explained how different it was playing with James Harden after losing a number of glue guys in Nicolas Batum and Robert Covington. It resulted in other guys, including himself, having to do more of the, ‘dirty,' work.
“We started the year off rolling, we started year off hot,” Paul George admitted. “Everybody was playing well, there was the energy there. It was kinda like the first time of us all being healthy with Russ now. It was the emergence of what it’s like being with Russ now, with myself healthy, Kawhi healthy, and Russ full-time here. It was kind of like a fresh start of what we thought could work.
“And then we traded to get James, and it’s not James’ fault of why I think we struggled, but the lost part of that was we lost RoCo, we lost Nico. Those were our glue guys. Those were our defenders. And we played small, so they had the length to help us play small. So again, it had nothing to do with grabbing James, it was moreso losing those guys. KJ Martin as well. That was our energy, our young legs. So I think that's kind of where you get to late in the year and we just weren't as good as we could've been, I think losing those guys kind of hurt us. RoCo was huge for us. Nico was huge for us. They would go get rebounds, they would block shots, they would rotate, they were defensive guys. So you plug those guys around myself, Kawhi, and Russ, 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. One of the best passers I've played with, one of the best playmakers. The way he just sees the floor, can take care of the ball, his ball security is just impressive for just how much he's in pick-and-rolls and in tight spaces.”
The Clippers had that well-documented 26-5 stretch where they ran through everyone including the eventual NBA Champion Boston Celtics. Guys were clicking together, the vibes were great, and it appeared as though the Clippers could only get better.
Unfortunately, the team faced a rough patch after the All-Star break that saw them go 10-12 between February 6th and March 26th. The team's identity was questioned by both George and Harden, which was immediately refuted by Tyronn Lue and a number of players behind the scenes. Many including Lue were irate that comments like those were even made, asking, ‘did we not have an identity when we went 26-5?'
Once again, injuries derailed their season and they fell short against the Dallas Mavericks due to the knee inflammation that Kawhi Leonard was dealing with for the final month of the season. And whether it's fair or not, the criticism for the Clippers falling short once again lays at the feet of the stars.
Leonard has been unable to finish the season healthy for the fourth season in a row. In his first postseason in three years, George was underwhelming and couldn't deliver consistently when the Clippers needed him most. James Harden was solid for the most part, but had too many ups and downs as a scorer where the Clippers needed scoring with Leonard out.
So when George says it's about the right style of basketball, is he implying he's not necessarily a fan of James Harden's heliocentric type of game? George saw career-highs in efficiency in part because of the offensive workload Harden took off his plate, both in scoring and playmaking.
Saying a championship isn't the priority while also not mentioning the money part of things is a strange answer to that question, to say the least. Just after his extension in December 2020, George said he was committed and felt he ‘owed' the Clippers a championship.
Four years later, the Clippers still don't have a championship and priorities seem to have shifted.
Now, the look-ahead to free agency in what could be a wild offseason.
Paul George's Free Agency
Kawhi Leonard signed a three-year, $150 million extension with the Clippers in January, taking one fewer year and fewer total dollars. He also declined the player option he had for next season. If the team's best player is going to take a deal like that less than the max, then it's expected that everyone else will follow suit. With Leonard signing his deal, the line for George's potential deal was essentially drawn in the sand.
Paul George is eligible to sign a four-year, $220 million max extension with the Clippers. ClutchPoints previously reported that offer has not been on the table in recent months and there's nothing to indicate that line of thinking has changed. President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank and his front office also have really tough decisions to make as the team tries to navigate the new CBA, it's stringent second-apron, and the penalties that come with it.
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. With teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic reportedly willing to give George the max deal he desires, it's easy to understand where he's coming from.
At the same time, George has not consistently performed as a max level player and has continuously said things that make folks wonder how committed he is winning. That may be harsh, but it's a reality that we're continuing to see play out here as George, who said multiple times since January that he was optimistic an extension would get done, does not have one 11 days before his opt-in deadline.
Free agency will begin on Sunday, June 30th at 3PM PST. There's a chance we'll get more information about George's decision on his player option in the coming days, but it more than likely will be closer to the deadline that is now 11 days away.
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