The Clippers aren’t acting DESPERATE to keep Paul George! – Brian Windhorst | NBA Today

The Clippers aren’t acting DESPERATE to keep Paul George! – Brian Windhorst | NBA Today

we’re just over two days away from the open of free agency and no one has more eyes on them than Paul George remember George can opt out of his contract and become a free agent this Sunday so let’s just take a look here at some of the other top free agents as well because LeBron James of course has a player option uh we kind of know now that bron James is in Los Angeles which way we expect that to go but take a look here Harden Klay Thompson Demar de rozan miles Bridges all will be unrestricted free AG so Bobby we’ve mentioned that this really is the summer of Paul George here but where are we in terms of his decision Mak today and then the Ripple effects also that it could cause I I would say free agency is Frozen right now okay waiting on Paul George’s decision I’m I’m not ready to go kawh Leonard 2019 when we waited basically until like mid July but when you look at a team like Philadelphia could potentially sign him with cap what happens in Philadelphia if he goes back to the Clippers what happens if a team like maybe Golden State comes into play to maybe trade for him what happens to Clay Thomson here’s another name for you Demar de rozan M if things don’t work out in Chicago Demar de rozan would love to be in a Los Angeles Clippers uniform okay but he can’t get there if Paul George and James Harden are still there so as you could see certain dominoes have to fall in place we’re going to learn a lot in the next day when Paul George will either opt in right which would mean a lot of different things or opt out and become a unrestricted free agent it could affect a lot of different players as well but Bobby you just me mentioned a litter of teams here so we’re talking about Golden State we’re talking about the Clippers not to mention Philadelphia perk where do you want to see Paul George land here I think the best place for Paul George is the Golden State Warriors I mean just think about it right uh the most important position in the NBA is the win position okay is proven right we saw it with the nuggets with Aaron Gordon we saw it this year for us with the Celtic with Jas Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown and we see the effect that oan anobi when it comes down to title contendant have on the Knicks think about this when you team up with Draymond Green and Steph Curry they’re basically guaranteeing you a chance to win a championship they done it for Kevin Durant they done it for Harrison borns they done it for Andrew Wiggins Paul George when he’s in the right space is one of the top two-way players in the game especially at the wing position here’s the thing though I want to see all of y’all I I think I’ve been on NBA Today enough to call for to see all y’all faces you know what I’m saying so yeah here here’s the thing this is what I need to ask what do Paul George want right because I understand he want more years and he want the max and I get all that but it’s something else to this because now that I’m thinking and you know when I get to thinking it’s a it’s a problem because I might say something crazy but it might be real so you listen you listen to him on his podcast yeah and he and he says I just want to play the right way y well what does that mean so it gets me to thinking because we never heard Paul George complain about playing the right way until a certain individual actually got on this team and James Harden I strongly believe that it’s more to it than just the money when it comes down to Paul George making the decision whether or not he still want to play with the Los Ang Clippers and I also strongly believe that they need to have an honest conversation a coming to Jesus meeting about what he wants and what do he mean about playing the right way and who do he want to play with we know he wants to play with Ka in it we get that but then when you talk about James Harden and his system the James Harden system I think it’s something there okay so perks got to thinking but no one reads tea leaves better than Brian windhorse so Brian if you’re looking at those comments about I heard that too about Paul George saying he wants to play the right way what does that mean to you yeah so Lawrence Frank their team president was asked that exact question yesterday after they wrapped up the draft as you could imagine you’d want to hear what the team said and I’m G to be honest with you Malika he gave a eloquent answer but it didn’t really say anything he kind of didn’t answer that question so I’m not sure they know what to make of it and if they do know what to make of it I’m sure they’re not saying publicly what I find interesting about this is the stance that the Clippers are taking here because this is a very important player to them they’ve are heavily invested in him in the draft picks that they that they use to trade him and and the last few years but they are not acting like they are desperate to keep him you know we’re so used to seeing these teams that are in danger of losing starfree agents pull out all the stops and yeah they are not offering him a Max contract they are not offering him Max years there is legitimate threats out there could take him it’s you know look the Detroit Pistons have 50 $60 million in cap space they could sign Paul George but nobody considers Detroit a serious Contender and if it was just Detroit I could get them taking the stance but there’s serious contenders out there multiple teams that are ready to pay Paul George and yet the Clippers have not at least as far as I’m aware right here on Friday afternoon doing this show the Clippers have not changed their stance so you ask yourself why why are they not worried about Philadelphia coming in Sunday night and Landing Paul George with a huge offer why are they not worried about Paul George pulling out stops to try to force his way to Golden State why are they not worried about this the long shot possibility that even he’d look at going back to Oklahoma City Oklahoma City’s got a bunch of salary caps paace there’s got to be a reason I don’t understand what it is Malika but that’s what I’m fascinated about perk mentioned Golden State and we brought the big touchcreen to New York right look at this thing so important to look at it Golden State with Chris Paul on their roster right now $174 million Golden State sent out cash yesterday and bought a pick they cannot exceed $189 million when you look at Paul George who’s at $49.5 million if you slide him in of course that number gets to $223 million so basically you have to start removing players here right when you look at certainly Chris Paul maybe a player like Gary pton Kon l certainly if you’re the Clippers you’re going to want one of their young players Jonathan kaminga Moses Moody so by moving back that deadline which was today at 5:00 to Sunday that gives the CL the Warriors more options in case Paul George opts into his contract to be able to work out the the trade they’ve got a big $30 million trade asset right now if they wave them they’re still over the salary cap they can’t sign Paul George outright okay so now that we’ve crunched the numbers on the big big board Bobby marks Brian windhorse does that do anything for you to kind of help us sort through where we could see Paul George make a decision here well there’s two things about this one it obviously the Warriors are showing their hand here because they’re they’re pushing back this thing with Chris Paul they’re not doing it because they’re actually thinking about keeping Chris Paul and paying him 30 million they’re doing it because they’re still trying to keep hope alive of this kind of big trade the second thing is nowhere there did Bobby say the named Klay Thompson and how do you think Klay Thompson feels about this they’re clearly seeking to try to replace him if not directly his position they’re seeking other big names meanwhile he’s just standing on the side of the Court waiting to hear what his role is going to be waiting to hear where he fits in and that has got a that is an interesting set of circumstances right there because even if you trade for Paul George even if you hit that grand slam I think You’ still like to keep Klay Thompson so again I’m a little bit mystified by The Stance of a player that a team is heavily invested in I don’t understand the way the Clippers are necessarily handling George and I don’t understand the way the Warriors are dealing with the future Hall of fameer and Klay Thompson acting like those guys are not priorities so maybe it will become clearer in the next 24 48 hours but I’m a little bit mystified I’m not going to lie perk’s just sitting back what’s this motion perk no no I’m just saying now we’re here now we’re here I was I I’ve been here since February when it when it came down to Klay Thompson hey look if they showing right now Wendy you don’t have to be confused about it Klay Thompson is not a priority [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

The Clippers aren’t acting DESPERATE to keep Paul George! – Brian Windhorst | NBA Today
On NBA Today, Kendrick Perkins, Bobby Marks and Brian Windhorst debate the best fit for Paul George next season.
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