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When the Los Angeles Clippers traded away five first-round picks, two pick swaps, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari in exchange for Paul George back in July 2019 so they could bring Kawhi Leonard in, anything short of a championship would have been a major disappointment.
But after just five seasons and a grand total of three playoff series victories, George's stint with the Clippers has come to an end after he signed a four-year, $212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.
This may not have been the ending that the Clippers envisioned when they brought Leonard and George in five years ago. Nonetheless, all the adversity that the Clippers encountered over the past half-decade has only served to bring Leonard and George closer to one another to the point of building a friendship that stretches beyond the confines of a basketball court.
In fact, the new 76ers star revealed in the most recent episode of Podcast P presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment that, in a conversation with Kawhi Leonard informing him of his planned Clippers exit, Leonard was supportive of him and even encouraged him to maximize his earning potential.
“I owed Kawhi that conversation. I called him up and was just like, man, listen, I think I'm going to go elsewhere. Conversations with the Clippers didn't go how I wanted to. … We had that conversation and I was like, man, ‘I got to do what's best.' He understood like ‘Go get your bag.' Like, ‘P, go get your bag. I can't even be mad at you,'” George said.
The two will eventually be meeting on the NBA court as opponents yet again, but that won't change just how much of a brother Paul George sees Kawhi Leonard as. There is, in fact, an emotional sting on George's part that he and Kawhi Leonard couldn't get it done over the past five years and that he had to leave for the 76ers just so he could get the contract he thinks he deserves.
“I look at Kawhi as one of my best friends in this league, somebody that I f**k with. Our families love each other. So it was tough to leave him just with how much I enjoyed being out there with him,” George added. “That was one of a big decision too that weighed a lot on me was just, damn, I'm leaving my boy.
“But I had to have that conversation with him. We talked, and he gave me his blessings of like, ‘Man, just go do what's best for you.'”
Paul George and the Clippers' breakup: mutually beneficial?
Losing Paul George will be tough for the Clippers. George gave the Clippers some secondary play-initiation, high-quality floor-spacing, and huge help on defense and on the glass. There's a reason why George ranks highly in advanced defensive metrics and why the Clippers have been a much better team with him on the court over the past five seasons.
Nonetheless, George's departure paved the way for the Clippers to add a few more athletic players across multiple positions and lean even further into a defensive identity.
For one, they brought in Derrick Jones Jr., the man who clamped-down George during the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Jones is a high flyer who will feast on the opportunities playing alongside James Harden, a heliocentric playmaker in the vein of Luka Doncic, will afford him.
Moreover, the Clippers brought back Nicolas Batum, added Mo Bamba and Kris Dunn, and took fliers on Kevin Porter Jr. and Kai Jones to give the team two lottery tickets in terms of potential contributors for next season.
Not re-signing George also gives the Clippers financial flexibility moving forward. They have managed to get under the second tax apron, and they may have a few more trades in the bag in the coming weeks, what with Russell Westbrook likely to change teams and another guard, perhaps Bones Hyland, likely to give way amid the team's guard logjam.
Meanwhile, Paul George got his money from the 76ers, and he gets to team up with 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid as well as 2024 Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey. George will slot in as the team's third option, which is perfect for him at this stage of his career.
The 76ers will be adding someone who averaged 23/5/4 last season on 47/41/91 splits — a major upgrade over Tobias Harris. A reduced offensive workload should also help George return to being the All-Defensive Team version of himself. He may now be far away from his home in Southern California, but basketball-wise, George could not have asked for a better team to play for.
