A BLOCKBUSTER TRADE IS ABOUT TO BREAK THE NBA

A BLOCKBUSTER TRADE IS ABOUT TO BREAK THE NBA

let’s remember that Paul George has three options one is to resign with the Clippers he can opt into his contract and get traded by this weekend hopefully you know this off season we find a way to get better and you know add some kisses and uh the Clippers are playing an incredibly risky game with Paul George and the craziest part is there’s a chance they win but at what cost Paul George is without a doubt the crown jewel of this year’s free agency class he’s a player whose skill set can be literally used on each and every team in the NBA he’s the Prototype at the shooting guard small forward position and the Clippers are not budging with their offer so before we get to the content we are on the grind to 1 million subscribers make sure you subscribe and turn on our notifications to help us get there and now that we get all that out of the way do the intro [Music] [Music] mike check 1212 what’s going on everybody as a Los Angeles Lakers fan I like to remind Clipper fans that they really didn’t have much of a choice but to trade for Paul George in 2019 I know it’s a tough pill to swallow why Leonard is fresh off of winning a championship he’s trying to decide between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers he tells Steve Balmer and the Clippers that if the Clippers trade their entire future for Paul George then he will sign with the Los Angeles Clippers the Clippers didn’t have a true star since the Lob City Clippers featuring Blake Griffin and Paul George a few years prior and Steve Balmer desperately wanted two new stars acquiring Paul George and Kawhi Leonard without a doubt makes the Clippers the team to beat in the Western Conference so the Clippers did what they were supposed to do in this particular instance they traded danilla galinari sheay gilis Alexander five first round draft picks and two first round pick swaps for Paul Paul George Doc Rivers even tried to warn Kawhi Leonard that he thinks Shay is going to be pretty good one day but Kawhi Leonard picked Paul George and immediately the Clippers became favorites in the west so how did the Paul George kawh leard era go well in year 1 they were the favorites to come out of the West especially when you have two of the best two-way players in the entire NBA on your roster there’s no question about it but the Clippers would make it all the way to the Western Conference semi-finals getting a 3 to1 Series lead versus the Denver Nuggets one game away from facing off against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Battle of Los Angeles at a neutral sight in the Western Conference Finals do you know as a Laker fan how badly we’ve wanted this and right when they were this close to getting in they choked blowing a 3 to1 Series lead to the Denver Nuggets the very next year they would make it to the Western Conference Finals but Kawhi Leonard would get hurt and the Clippers would lose to the Suns the very next year Kawhi Leonard would be injured and the Clippers would just make it as an eighth seed they would make it to the play in tournament but wouldn’t make it to the playoffs but we at least got Patrick Beverly’s famous mem worthy celebration as a member of the Timberwolves vanquishing his old Los Angeles Clippers team the very next year both Paul George and kawh Leonard would suffer from injuries in the first round of the playoffs and the Clippers would lose 4 to one to the Phoenix Suns and this past year the Los Angeles Clippers went all in once again trading for James Harden and unfortunately by the time they made it to the playoffs they weren’t at full strength once again Kawhi Leonard would get injured and the Clippers would lose in the first round round once again now you have Paul George in this weird situation he’s entering free agency and he never really had the opportunity to play with this team at full strength in the playoffs throughout his entire career but regardless the Los Angeles Clippers decided to pay kawii Leonard a three-year $152 million Max extension but they’re expecting Paul George to take a Paya to remain with this team and the number one question is why would Paul George do that you’re playing in Los Angeles California so you’re pretty much taking a discount to play here to begin with because there’s a 12.5% state income tax but on top of that the West is incredibly deep the OKC Thunder which was the rebuilding team that you gave up all your assets for finished with a better record than you and they’re only going to get better this next year they already traded for Alex Caruso and we made a separate video on that the Denver Nuggets just need to fix up their bench dep who would have thought that Bruce Brown and Jeff Green would have made such a huge difference for them in the playoffs that’s a pretty easy easy fix the Minnesota Timberwolves have done what they needed to do so far in order to make sure that they can remain competitive this next year and that’s retained their general manager Tim Connelly the Mavericks made it to the NBA finals Phoenix Suns are a big three just like the Los Angeles Clippers are the Los Angeles Lakers H I’m I’m I I I think they’re a dumpster fire I love my Lakers but I think they’re a dumpster fire the Pelicans are looking to make improvements the Rockets could swing a trade for Paul George the Spurs at Victor webon Yama and The Grizzlies were without joh Morant this past year but you could go to the Eastern Conference where the New York Knicks who are interested in Paul George were the number two seed this past year and the Philadelphia 76ers who are always coming up in the Paul George discussion might be interested as well I mean just look at Joel embiid attempting to recruit Paul George what does that have you thinking about as a member of Philadelphia 76 I can’t stand up uh you know I can’t stand them I hate Boston you know great City great fans uh you obviously they got some great players but he he hurts me a lot so hopefully you know this off season we find a way to get better and you know uh some pisses and uh can I ask how the is this not tampering I mean look at what Paul George had to say about Joel MB before this stop him he’s too big he’s agile he can shoot he can step out from the three-point line he just a big body he’s our generation in our version of Shaq there’s nobody we can put on Shaq right right bro there’s nobody you can put on Joel you put a big on him he’s going to go around him you put a small on him he’s going to punish him he plays the big spot how big is he got a nice step back he got it all he doing the Euro like what big man got the Euro down he’s funny too and he’s funny yeah he’s I’m a big fan of Joel man we got a good relationship every allar we chop it up we we got to get the big we need a bigger seat I personally thought this was hilarious because everybody’s been linking the Philadelphia 76ers to Paul George but just a few days ago Shams shut that down beeting the the Philadelphia 76ers interest in pursuing Paul George has significantly waned in recent days and the franchise is expected to be aggressive elsewhere with its salary cap flexibility and draft Capital leading into next week’s NBA draft now why would they say this well maybe they were worried about the Philadelphia 76ers getting hit with some tampering maybe Shams was doing a quick favor for the 76ers or maybe maybe there’s a much more attractive situation for Paul George you see the Clippers could have easily signed Paul George to a contract extension up until this point they could have maxed him out and isn’t that the norm every time you have two star players on your roster that are worthy of Maximum contracts you Max them without any questions but in the case of Paul George he really only has two options he could either take the discounted offer that the Los Angeles Clippers are giving him or he can opt in and try to force a trade elsewhere or of course once free agency starts he could just sign with the team off the bat but what team would have the cap space to completely max out Paul George the unfortunate reality of Paul George’s situation is the fact that there’s a brand new CPA so you can’t just assume that these players are going to get maximum contracts right away once they hit free agency because there’s now a brand new apron so before there was a first apron where you can’t exceed $178.7 million if you exceed this then you’re not allowed to acquire a player in assign in trade or use trade exceptions you’re not allowed to take more money in a trade you’re not allowed to sign a player wave during the regular season that had a pre-existing salary of $12.9 million or more and you’re allowed to use a trade exception created from a new trade and you still are allowed to use the $5.2 million mid-level exception but the second apron is a completely different ball game if you exceed $1 189.5 million you’re not allowed to acquire a player and ass sign and trade you’re not allowed to use a pre-existing trade exception you’re not allowed to take back more money in a trade you can’t aggregate contracts to combine for one salary in a trade you can’t send out cash you can’t sign a player wave during the regular season that had a pre-existing salary of $12.9 million plus you’re not allowed to sign sign and trade your own free agent if the incoming salary exceeds the second apron you’re not allowed to use a trade exception created from a sign and trade you’re allowed to use a trade exception created from a new trade but your 2032 first round pick is frozen if a team finishes the 24 to 25 season over the second apron meaning the days of being able to sign players like Paul George to max level contracts is over which also makes it more competitive for Paul George’s Services which means if Paul George wanted a new team most likely scenario would be what Brian Windor is saying here let’s remember that Paul George has three options one is to resign with the Clippers two is to enter free agency and go somewhere else like Philly or Orlando three he can opt into his contract and get traded by this weekend that is something that is going to come to a head in the next day or two if he wants to go with that option because obviously you’d have to negotiate a trade and then the team wouldn’t necessarily need salary cap space so the Paul George S Stakes is going to come to a head at least that aspect of it faster than those other players who are going to be free agents like Klay Thompson or demard de Rosen so Paul George has a different menu of options and we’re going to see some action in that probably coming up you know very quickly after the draft which means Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers are in an epic game of chicken you see the Clippers are basically daring Paul George to leave they think he’s bluffing they haven’t been willing to meet Paul George’s price and he remains unsigned so Paul George changes teams he’s going to have to opt in and request a trade but the Los Angeles Clippers believe that Paul George would rather Main in Los Angeles then to jump over to New York or Philadelphia after all that could also be a reason why sham said that the six’s interest in Paul George is waning but let’s say Paul George does want to leave then what are the teams that are most likely to trade for Paul George well I have two teams in the East and one team in the west that would make a lot of sense the New York Knicks have stated that they are incredibly interested in acquiring Paul George and personally I’m very confused about this because they just traded for OG anobi they’re letting OG anobi hit the open market and this is why this year’s free agency is going to have a lot of drama it’s no longer a conclusion that you’re going to max out any player that hits free agency as a result of the salary cap but there’s obviously going to be some overpays according to Mark Stein another trusted Source has advise me to keep the Knicks on the list as a potential trade Suitor for Paul George if the all NBA Swingman indeed opts into the final season of his current contract at 48.8 million that step would position George to push for a trade to another team in this case I’m assuming that the New York Knicks would probably match salary by trading Julius Randall is that an improvement for the Los Angeles Clippers I don’t really think so but if there’s anything that the New York Knicks proved to us this past year is that they don’t really necessarily need Julius Randall that much of course we mentioned the Philadelphia 76ers they were our top spot all season long it just makes too much sense Paul George could slide in in a position of need for the Philadelphia 76ers be that 3 and D player that the Sixers need contribut significantly more than Tobias Harris did and potentially help Joel embiid win a championship but probably my favorite Target for Paul George and my favorite team for Paul George is actually a team in the Western Conference it’s a place where he wouldn’t be taxed nearly as heavily either it would be the Houston Rockets and this would make the most sense not only for Paul George but for the Los Angeles Clippers as well you might be wondering Mike why the Houston Rockets wouldn’t Paul George want to leave the Western Conference if anything after all I listed a bunch of Western Conference teams that are definitely going to catch up to the Los Angeles Clippers or even exceed the Los Angeles Clippers this upcoming year so why would Paul George want to opt into his contract and go to the Houston Rockets well for one there are the aformentioned tax reasons Paul George would go from a 12.5 state income tax bracket to no state income tax that’s more of his millions that he gets to keep while playing for the Houston Rockets but in addition to that the Houston Rockets have stability in the head coaching position via emay udoka they’re a team filled with young talented players like alarin shenon Jabari Smith Jaylen green Fred Van vet and Paul George would slide in seamlessly at the small forward position and probably the most important part about this is the Los Angeles Clippers really don’t have much of a choice here you see for the Los Angeles Clippers I could understand wanting to keep on to Paul George you have this brand new stadium that Steve balmer’s creating that is going to set the standard for basketball experience in the NBA and don’t get me wrong this brand new stadium looks insane and I can’t wait for it to come out although I probably won’t be allowed at the wall because I’m not really going to be cheering for the Clippers it solves a huge problem for the clippers because typically when the Clippers would play the Lakers at Staple Center we all know that more often than not fans are rooting for the Lakers it’s absolutely revolutionary and I can understand why Steve Balmer would want a competitive team for when that time came to be but at this point holding on to Paul George just makes you look desperate I mean he’s 34 years old you could trade him at the peak of his value and you could get a pretty nice return for him in the case of the Houston Rockets they have jock landale Jan Tade and Jeff Green that they could aggregate in a trade and they have a bunch of young players and Dylan Brooks that they could offer in a trade as well but even more importantly they have a plethora of draft picks that they can trade to the Los Angeles Clippers which would at least allow the Clippers to see a light at the end of the tunnel the Clippers currently are stuck they’re in purgatory they have no choice but to compete because outside of 2025 2027 or 2029 they do not own a draft pick and even in those years those draft picks are also pick swaps with the OKC Thunder because up until 2030 they don’t have draft control I mean yes in 2025 2027 and 2029 their picks could be swapped in 2025 and 27 the OKC Thunder could swap picks with them and in 2029 it’s going to be the Philadelphia 76ers I don’t think you guys understand how screwed the Los Angeles Clippers are because they currently have an out a team in form of a big three with James Harden Paul George and Kawhi Leonard they’re trying to underpay this big three and force Paul George into taking less money so they could keep the big three together but even if the big three remains together there’s a huge question of whether or not this team could compete in the west you could trade Paul George to the Houston Rockets and you could get draft picks for the future but even then you’re kind of stuck in this funky situation with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden on your team and a team that’s more likely to make it into the playin as opposed to actually competing for for a championship but probably the most bizarre scenario in which Paul George gets traded is another team in the Western Conference in a situation that is eerily similar to the situation that he’s in with the Los Angeles Clippers you see the Golden State Warriors have been in contract discussions with Klay Thompson all season long and it’s a huge game of chicken between Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors as well but if Klay Thompson decides to opt out and join a team like the Orlando Magic and the Golden State Warriors would be in a situation where they could trade for Paul George because they would no longer exceed the second tax apron in a trade for Paul George I’d assume that they’d give up Gary Payton II Chris Paul and Jonathan kaminga in return for Paul George but the issue here is whether or not Paul George would actually move the needle for the Golden State Warriors would you expect that many extra wins from the Golden State Warriors by swapping out one of your franchise cornerstones in Klay Thompson for Paul George well Paul George actually plays defense and he actually shot better from three than Klay Thompson this past year averaging 7.9 threes per game and converting 41% of them from three this would be a sizable upgrade from Klay Thompson who chucked up nine three-pointers per game and only converted 38.7% of them not to mention that Paul George would actually play defense but the Stinger here would be the fact that the Warriors would get a little thinner as a result of giving up Jonathan kaminga but needless to say the Golden State Warriors are already looking for trade packages surrounding Chris Paul maybe this does happen the sad thing is is is I believe when the Los Angeles Clippers are fully healthy they are one of the best teams in the west at least that’s what they’ve shown Us in the regular season the unfortunate part is it seems like no matter what they do at the most pivotal Point each and every year kawh Leonard gets injured in the playoffs or Paul Georg and kawh Leonard gets injured for the playoffs and they were hoping that James Harden could mitigate some of that damage this past year but it didn’t really do much now this team doesn’t have any draft control until the 2030 season they’re in a situation that’s very reminiscent of the 2013 Brooklyn Nets even if they were to retain Paul George this big three is in their mid-30s right now their best basketball is clearly behind them this isn’t the Miami Heat Big Three or even the Boston Celtics big three this is more like the big three of the Houston Rockets in the late 1990s with hakee oajan Scotty Pippen and Charles Barkley so at the end of the day the Clippers don’t really have a choice because no matter what they do they’re collectively screwed with Paul George all they can hope is that they successfully call Paul George’s Bluff and he returns to them on an undervalued contract which would be amazing if they pull it off but given this team’s history of making transactions I don’t know how confident I feel in this team so let me know in the comments section down below if you’re a Clipper fan what would you like to happen aside from that I’m your boy Mike I’m dropping our mic until our next upload

The Los Angeles Clippers are playing a crazy game of chicken with impending 2024 NBA Free Agent Paul George. So far George has received a very low offer from the Los Angeles Clippers, which means he is likely to opt into his contract and get traded to another team, such as the Golden State Warriors…
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