After months of waiting and a lot of cheddar on the line, the Indiana Pacers won't be able to offer star forward Paul George a supermax deal after he fell short of making any of the three All-NBA teams, which were announced Thursday morning.
Had he made any of the three, George would have qualified for the new Designated Player Extension that is part of the new collective bargaining agreement that kicks in July 1. This provision would have allowed the Pacers to offer George the most lucrative contract in the history of The Association and lock him in for an added five years and approximately $210 million.
The sum is roughly $75 million more than any other team could offer the Palmdale native if chose to sign elsewhere by opting into free agency next offseason. This new provision was built into the new CBA in order to prevent the forming of “super teams” like the Golden State Warriors after Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign a two-year, $54.7 million contract with the team.
This new rule would allow teams that own a player's Bird Rights to offer more money than any other by cap limitations, making a hefty monetary enticement to remain with the team, rather than join another star elsewhere.
Players can qualify for a supermax contract if they make the All-NBA team the year before the extension or are named Most Valuable Player or Defensive Player of the Year. The rule only applies to players going into their eighth or ninth seasons when the contract kicks in. While it's a very short list of players, for George, it make all the difference.
The Pacers could also wait and see if George can make an All-NBA team next season, as he'd be going into his ninth season in 2018-19 — allowing them to sign him for over $200 million and roughly $70 million more than any other competitor.
For now, the 6-foot-9 wing has no enticement whatsoever to stay with the team that first drafted him in 2010 after a resounding sweep of his Pacers in the first round of the playoffs.
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