Paul George SWEEPSTAKES 🏀 Latest on PG-13’s future with Clippers & free agency options | NBA Today

Paul George SWEEPSTAKES 🏀 Latest on PG-13’s future with Clippers & free agency options | NBA Today

we’re talking about this is the summer of Paul George so let’s focus in a little bit more on Paul George and the Paul George sweep Stakes here because the nine-time All-Star has until Friday to decide if he’s going to opt in or opt out to test the unrestricted free agent market so PG averaged 23 points five rebounds four assists in 74 games last season for the Clippers and the 34-year-old has only hit free agency once throughout his entire career so we’re now going to welcome in our Clippers reporter om young Muk so om hopefully we’re getting him in here in just a couple of minutes we’re having a couple of issues communicating with our audio department now so I’m just going to talk to you a little bit about this so here he is there oh thank you so much for joining us here on NBA today where do talks currently stand between the Clippers and Paul George as the clock keeps ticking down toward the optin deadline Malika I thought it was quite telling that at last time that reporters talked to Lawrence Frank at the end of the Clippers postseason run Lawrence Frank referred to Paul George and James Harden as they’re going to be free agents which told me that it was very likely the team was not going to be able to come to an an extension agreement with Paul George now as you know Malika Paul George is one of the nicest guys in the NBA but let me tell you something after they came to an agreement the team with kawh Leonard on that threeyear $150 million extension Paul George said he was very optimistic that he too would be joining Kawai and getting an extension done but as talks began to pretty much I think break down and disintegrate because Paul George was not getting what he wanted to hear or what he wanted you started to see Paul George become more irritable every time he was asked about his contract status and before the playoffs started he was asked where do they stand he would not even answer the question let me tell you this though Malika one thing Paul George has to factor in and I do think he really loves this about playing in Los Angeles is that he’s close to his family his parents come to every game his mom is in the wheelchair but she’s able to see him courtside he’s not going to get that if he goes somewhere else that is something that he really has to factor in and one other thing Malika all with the Domino of Paul George one guy who’s waiting to see what happens is James Harden because he wants to see if Paul George remains how many years Paul George gets because he wants to align himself along with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George Well if the Clippers and George don’t come to an agreement we know that there will be plenty of suitors right Malika and I may or may not have witnessed the start of it based off of what we’ve seen especially Malik when you think about the situation with Paul George and so when I am looking at this outcome clearly it’s going to be fascinating because again I said before he is an exactor he is someone who has options and I do think the patience has worked in some ways because now I know that they were lining up when you were the Clippers the opportunity to make this come to fruition but the fact that he’s been patient I think this will serve him because if you think about the Clippers lineup he probably was one of the most consistent out there overall and he was someone that really just his game is very complimentary so not only is he attractive to the city that he’s currently in he’s also very attractive to every other destination so to me that is a major winwin overall and I think you know now that we’re thinking about the Clipper side of things and Paul George should we think about another side right and so we need to think about who potentially could be interested could be suitter here for Paul George so I want to bring in our reporter Tim bontemps into the conversation who covers all things Philadelphia Tim do you believe that the Sixers are positioned to go all in on Paul George Well Malik the Sixers have been positioned to go all in on this free agency cycle going back to last summer when they did not extend Tyrese Maxi who they believe in and they’re going to give a Max contract this summer in order to have as much salary cap space as possible and om just talked about James Harden when the Sixers traded James Harden last fall ultimately to the LA Clippers they did so getting back draft picks and expiring contracts because they wanted to make sure they would have Max salary cap space this summer to go after whoever they can get on the market and obviously as you guys have laid out Paul George is quite clearly the number one player available this summer and if you compare him on the wing with Tyrese Maxi at the point with Joel embiid at Center you’d have a guard a wing and a big it’s exactly what you’re looking for in the league it’d be a definitional big three to have Daryl mury the president of Bas operations for the Sixers has long been someone as we all know that has chased stars in every way possible and certainly the Sixers are as well positioned as anybody to strike and get James get Paul George in free agency assuming he does opt out of his contract and get to free AGC on June 30th because you know we all saw when Joel and beid join our NBA Countdown set during the NBA Finals Paul George was also on the set that little side eye that that he gave so I don’t know if that’s where things maybe started there but Tim another team that has been in the East that was kind of knocking on the door the one who sent the Sixers home packing the New York Knicks New York has plenty of trade chips to sort of push if they want to how aggressive can they be in going after a guy like Paul George well this is the other side of things bik because we just talked about if Paul George opts out right that he could go to the Sixers as a free agent They have Max cap space they could just sign him if Paul George opts into his contract this week like James Harden did last June then all of a sudden I think you start to look at trade scenarios and that’s where the New York Knicks come in the Knicks as you laid out have a ton of draft Capital that they can trade they’ve got a bunch of movable contracts that they could trade and the Knicks have been waiting for years now to strike on a big time player in trade to bring to New York now after making it to the second round at back-to-back years for the first time in almost a quarter Century they’ve got Jaylen Brunson they’ve got Tom Tibido they have this team that is really on the aedy in the Eastern Conference it’s obviously the talk of New York City and if you drop a star player say Paul George say somebody else that comes available onto this team you might be talking about a team that could really go go Toe totoe with Boston a top the East we’ll see what the Knicks do over the next couple of weeks here what they ultimately decide but this is a team that could have traded for Donovan Mitchell a couple years ago and didn’t want to overpay because they wanted to make sure they were ready to get the right guy down the road we’ll see if that happens over the next few weeks Tim thank you so very much for that information Los Angeles New York Philadelphia there are plenty of ways that the Paul George Extravaganza can play I want to bring in Tim legler into the conversation because Tim is the team that gives Paul George the best chance at winning a championship is it the Clippers or is it somewhere else yeah look I think it is probably Philadelphia because you’re talking about maybe the most dominant offensive individual scoring force in the league in Joel embiid another legitimate star in tyres Maxi who’s about to get his max deal himself Paul George certainly represents a major upgrade for the Philadelphia 76ers at that spot now that Tobias Harris is finally off the books but here’s the thing if you’re Paul George You’ got to ask yourself a couple of questions in that situation one are you going to be left caring carrying an unfair burden at the end of the season if Joel embiid is once again hobbled in the playoffs and if that’s the case you now become a guy that’s looked at as the Savior to bail them out if you get to the postseason in a very difficult town to do that in there’s an immense amount of pressure when you play in the playoffs in Philadelphia media scrutiny fan scrutiny you name it that that city is desperate for an NBA title uh and so many different things have gone wrong wrong for them in the Joel beat Arrow once they get to the postseason Paul George would be the guy that everyone would look at as getting them through that hurdle closing the Gap with the Boston Celtics and with Joel embiid’s health history you don’t know what that’s going to look like at the end of the year and then how does that experience play out for Paul George I think there’s a lot of things to consider there for him I do have to wonder chenet being teammates with James Harden who was on the Philadelphia 76ers if he has said anything to PG about what his experience was like there if that swayed one way or another to me I think it’s more about what PG brings to the table and I’m looking at these three teams the Clippers the Knicks and the Sixers and I look at it as a puzzle and he is a piece that could fit probably best per se when it comes to Philly in my opinion they they need someone else that can carry a load that is excellent off ball his skill set is very different than tyres Maxi and Joel embiid you feel like that three Dynamic all over the court would bring something that they have been waiting for versus the Knicks do you really need another off ball Creator when you have a heavy ball dominant guy in Jaylen Brenson and then you’ve just seen like we picked the Clippers at the start of the year yeah and it feels like you know we were let down in some ways sometimes that repeat gets old and so I do see Philly as a place that maybe it’s a fresh start he can be his best self and he can win and I think what’s concerning if you’re the Los Angeles Clippers is you look at Paul George and Kawhi Leonard and they played the most games they have played in a Clippers uniform they were healthy for most of the season they were able to be out there and still when it came down to it Kawhi Leonard he missed several games in the first first round and they ultimately were sent home by Luca donic in that first round that’s not what they want but they’re also looking at opening this huge big expensive Arena coming here and want stars and a good team where fans are going to want to come out and see that so they have a decision to make too on how much they want he’s sitting Co on his couch right now exactly [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] h

Paul George SWEEPSTAKES 🏀 Latest on PG-13’s future with Clippers & free agency options | NBA Today
On NBA Today, Malika Andrews, Chiney Ogwumike, Ohm Youngmisuk, Tim Bontemps and Tim Legler discuss Paul George’s future with the LA Clippers, along with teams that could pursue PG-13 in free agency.
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