The NBA offseason is officially in full swing for Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers, who were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks two weeks ago and are still searching for their first championship in franchise history. George played relatively well in the series vs the Mavericks, but ultimately (as has been the case many times), the Clippers' lack of depth in the absence of Kawhi Leonard spelled their downfall against a Mavericks team that looked much fresher than the oldest team in the NBA.
One of the biggest questions of the offseason, not just for the Clippers but for the NBA as a whole, pertains to the future of George, who has a $48 million player option for the 2024-25 season but could also opt out and become an unrestricted free agent. Earlier in the 2023-24 season, the Clippers had already extended Leonard for three more years on a lucrative contract, leading some to wonder whether the team will look to do the same for George this offseason.
Now, some more light is being shed on just what exactly that contract could potentially look like.
“According to league sources, Los Angeles was unwilling to offer George more than the three-year, $152.3 million extension it gave to Kawhi Leonard. However, the 34-year-old is eligible to receive a four-year, $221 million contract,” reported NBA insider Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Pompey also added that “the Clippers are holding out hope that George, a Southern California native, will take less money to remain close home.”
If George does decide to hit the open market, he is sure to have plenty of suitors, including the Philadelphia 76ers, who saw their own lack of wing depth exposed in their first round playoff series loss to the New York Knicks.
Where do the Clippers go from here?
In five years, the Los Angeles Clippers have made it through exactly one postseason in which Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were both healthy the full way through, and that was in their very first year together, which saw them complete one of the biggest choke jobs in NBA history vs the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Bubble.
As both George and Leonard are now well past the age of 30 and seemingly not getting any healthier, it's certainly fair to wonder whether it's really worth investing long-term in a star duo that continues to prove unable to stay on the court when it matters most.
Of course, the Clippers already partially answered that question by signing Leonard to the extension and by trading for James Harden earlier in the 2023-24 season. However, the Western Conference only figures to get together in the years to come, as the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets all figure to be firmly entrenched above the Clippers in the hierarchy, with teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, and even the San Antonio Spurs all looking poised for sizable leaps next season.
In any case, the Clippers clearly want Paul George to stay, and now it's just a question of what George wants.
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