Paul George’s decision in free agency will be one of the main storylines during the upcoming offseason. George has long been linked with a return home to his hometown team, the Los Angeles Lakers, as his most likely destination.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Michael Lee during his appearance on the HoopsHype Podcast, though, George will still prioritize winning first and foremost in terms of deciding where to sign.
Michael Lee on Paul George’s free agency: “I think he wants to win, first and foremost. I think he’d love to win in L.A. … But I think his No. 1 objective is that he wants to win. I mean, he’s 27 now; he’s not getting any younger, he’s in his prime and he’s overcome a lot to get back to being an elite player again. He’s going to explore everything, but I think he’ll go with the place that gives him the best shot at winning. If he can’t find a place where winning at a high level is inevitable, going home is probably his next best option.”
While George has the power to choose where he wants to go via free agency, his choices could be limited since there aren’t a lot of teams projected to have cap space in the summer. Moreover, most of the teams that will have cap space aren’t the surefire contenders he is looking to join.
Unless a contender can get creative in a sign-and-trade – or if George is traded within this season and can just re-sign with that team – George will be hard-pressed to achieve his main goal of ending up in an iron-clad winning situation.
That’s likely why the hometown Lakers remain right there as a possible landing spot and they will welcome George with open arms if he doesn’t get his way in free agency.
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