Stephen A. & Shannon Sharpe’s STRONG RESPONSE to Paul George joining the 76ers 🔥 | First Take

Stephen A. & Shannon Sharpe’s STRONG RESPONSE to Paul George joining the 76ers 🔥 | First Take

good morning ladies and gentlemen it is yours truly Stephen A Smith the host of first take this morning you see my man Brian wior no tie evidently not running for office today we’ll talk about that later big perk with the yellow shirt on still looking very very good by the way and I don’t know if y’all know this he’s a very big time overachiever hi Mrs Perkins how you doing and of course my man sh Shay himself Shannon sharps in the house Yours Truly Stephen A Smith how y’all doing how was your week and everybody all right amazing not as good as Paul George that would be true that would be true now listen listen we about to get into some Paul George stuff but before that as the host of this show I must conform you this is not Molly World this is not Christine world this is Stephen A’s World okay there are rules and regulations to follow we will let you know right now wait to speak until spoken to and I give you permission to talk okay no cussing per you heard me no cussing all right we got to make sure that’s the case address me as Stephen A or Mr Stephen A you understand okay don’t badmouth The Producers we’re not allowing any of that today none of that today and last but not least when you give a reaction perk fix your face Shannon Opie sitting up there raising your voice you know Wendy don’t be out talking everybody be respectful be respectful or R okay I’m just letting y’all know that right now now let’s get the show started let’s get the show started all right we got free agency to get into and regards to the one and only Paul George all right just just last night he’s agreed to a 4year $212 million maximum contract with the Philadelphia 76 is sources tell ESPN early Monday morning georg’s deal which sources said includes a player option on the final season in 2027 2028 brings him back to the Eastern Conference to partner with MVP Center Joel embiid and Allstar guard Tyrese Maxi who according to W our very own Adrien wowski just agreed to a 5-year $24 million Max extension all right look at this right here the 76 with 121 to win the title before agreeing to a deal with Paul George but they’re now 8 to one behind only the Celtics and the Denver Nuggets sh Shay Shannon shot we’ll start with you how big is this Paul George 76ers deal in your estimation ginormous and if but everything when we talk about the six Sixers we know guys perk uh Wendy Stephen A everything is predicated on Joel mb’s Health if he can ever stay healthy he can stay healthy for the regular season but somehow he gets Nick nicked going into the playoffs and that shuts him down a little bit but if he can stay healthy with Paul George and Tyrese Maxi this is the biggest threat to knock Boston off that throne in the Eastern Conference because they have no answer for Joel andb Paul George Can Play oneon-one Tyrese Mai is a superstar budgeting and become a is a star budgeting in becoming a superstar and so when you pair those three you have a big three Paul George is a proven commodity yeah he’s going to have his hiccups here and there here and there but he still can go get your 25 to 30 on a nightly basis we know what Joel embiid is Joel embiid was about to lead the league in scoring again until he missed too many games and tyres Maxi has proven this is why he’s getting that Max contract I love this trade and I don’t know what the Clippers were thinking oh just because this is the deal you did with Kawai that don’t mean Paul George was going to accept that Paul George says I’ve been here I’m worth this and if you won’t give it to me someone else will and that’s what happens nobody is going to treat you as good you know what perk perk you married Stephen they you and I we dated in college and everything but it was something about that new that treated us better than our old one that made it real easy for us to leave and that’s what happened with Paul George there was something about phly what they told you know what we going to take care of you we going to make sure you have everything we go you want to fly your companion on the plane you want to have this you want to have that PG started like hold on for real y’all GNA do all that for me little old me by Clippers by Kawai even though Kawai wanted him and boy look at that massive Hall that they gave up this might be the the worst trade in Epic Proportion proportions we going to look back later and see what they gave up to George and what they got out of this but Philly they’re dancing in the streets of Philadelphia because Paul George could possibly be that missing piece I love it Wendy before you chime in I want to remind everybody it’s not just about the money it’s not just about the additional years uh taxes are 14.4% state income tax in the state of California it’s significantly Less in the state of Pennsylvania go ahead Wendy floor is yours yes so to put this in the parlament of our times both the 76ers and Paul George swiped right here and they were each other’s only match if you look at it there was only one team that could give Paul George a Max contract in a straight uh signing that didn’t need a sign and trade didn’t need the Clippers cooperation because even this the magic they were going to get a meeting with them and they went ahead and made another move they knew they weren’t getting them that was the one place that Paul George could go to if you’re Philly ever since they traded James Harden at the beginning of last season they were they were going for cap space this summer there was only one max level free agent that they were really interested in it was Paul George and it had to work out that the two of them were available for each other and it did and the fit is tremendous because if you’re in the Eastern Conference and you’re looking up at Boston and you’re looking up 95 and what the Knicks have built you need a wing player you need a wing player that can play both ends of the Court yes Paul George is maybe the prototypical player he’s coming off a season where he played 74 games and had the best shooting season of his career it fits perfectly and look we heard Paul on his podcast a week or so ago talking about how the fit was important the fit here is perfect he fits alongside T Tyrese Maxi beautifully and congratulations to Tyrese W tells us he’s got a $24 million deal this morning he has absolutely earned that he fits next to Joel embiid as the wing in between the point guard and the big man and you’ve got a Bonafide contend here now they’ve got to build out this roster and they’ve obviously as Shannon said got to be healthy but you look at this team you look at Philly New York Boston the Northeast is now a power center in the NBA it happened because the new CBA squeezed the Clippers and opened the door for Philly and here we are get ready for the Eastern Conference to be more of a factor going forward the Philadelphia 76ers they were already a dime piece okay on the wake up you look up no makeup no eyelashes no nothing they was a dime piece all of a sudden you getting get Paul George they became a 11 in the with the most important position in the NBA when it comes down to winning the championship the wing position how valuable is that it’s very valuable we go look at the past champions from the Denver Nuggets they had to have Aaron Gordon we look at the Boston Celtics Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown two-way players they just landed that in Paul George and not just a two-way player in all NBA caliber player in Paul George a guy that could do it on both ends at an elite level so when I’m looking at the Philadelphia 76ers yes they’re knocking at the door and they’re right there on the heels of the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks like a pair of church socks this was a hell of a pickup by Daryl Moore and when it comes down to it think about this for a second also signing Kelly UB back who played phenomenal basketball for them last this past postseason in this past season getting Paul George maxing him out playing alongside Tyrese Maxi and Joel and beid is huge for the simple fact that Paul George doesn’t take away from those guys Paul George could play without the ball in his hands he doesn’t have to be ball dominant and so now when you look at what the 76ers and dar Moore is doing it’s a great deal and let me say this about Paul George I appreciate him because he made himself uncomfortable we know that he loves to live in LA where he was born and raised to be around his family but at the end of the day this is about business this is about trying to go win a championship this is about putting yourself in the best position possible and sometimes you got to get uncomfortable he did just that now get look getting 212 million help but at the end of the day I love this move by the Philadelphia 76ers and it definitely put them right in the convers ation with the Celtics and the New York Knicks lesson for all of us guys you got to be go gohe go ahead go ahead Shannon Ste Stephen Stephen A before you go let me say this perk you said something about he made himself uncomfortable comfortable is a great place to be but nothing grows there you look at anybody that’s ever been that achieved greatness or anybody that ever been great they had to make themselves uncomfortable and so that’s what Paul George was willing to beat because you said it he loved playing back on the West Coast he’s from the West Coast his family could just drive 30 minutes to an hour and see him play on a nightly basis but he said in order this is what’s best for me my family and the opportunity to an achieve a championship was to go to Philly take off Stephen A well well first of all Shannon sharp that was a spectacular point on your part and it had better be for you to interrupt the host time and the take you better make a great Point okay now now let’s get now let’s get down to it all right let me tell you right now I’m a Knicks fan and I’m I’m mad enough to own up to the fact that this move definitely elevates the Philadelphia 76ers there’s no escaping that Paul George is a big time pickup I appreciate your point big perk about him willing to make himself uncomfortable because we know he’s out on the west coast he he was willing to go back East get in his bag making sure that he was insistent upon that four-year Max let’s not also forget the fact that if the Clippers one could easily argue had not invested future assets into a kawh Leonard for example prep perpetually injury-prone perhaps you would have been in a position to give Paul George what he wanted and Paul George might have been a bit salty about that so let’s not forget that and let’s not Escape that having said all of that although I think this elevates to Philadelphia 76 is yes above the Knicks because Joel embiid is that dude Tyrese Maxi is that dude you add Paul George you keep Kelly UB there is no question that the Sixers are a team to be reckoned with and they deserves a lot of credit we also got to to Really encapsulate what they’re getting in Paul George 47% shooting from the field 41.3% shooting from three-point range 90.7% shooting from the three-point line all career highs just this past season so this is a brother that that that recognized he was approaching free agency stepped up answered the call his availability and the fact that he played like an Allstar all three him Maxi andnb were all allstars last season so we got to look at it from that standpoint right we also have to take a moment to say okay Daryl Mory what else you going to do to build this roster because you don’t want to just leave it to those three and Daryl mury is is as good as of an executive as he has been what he hasn’t done has gotten his team to the finals and obviously have not delivered the championship and so when you look at it from that standpoint he’s got some things to accomplish as well we’ll see what will transpire from there I will and look at this roster right here MB Maxi UB George Eric Gordon Andre Drummond I think Andre Drummond is also a big pickup because he’s a guy that will come in there and rebound for you that’s a that’s an important Point size some size rebounds so we get all of that I also think it’s important to point out and I’ll come back to you on this Wendy do we get do we use this as an opportunity to talk about the Clippers and lawren Frank and ask the question what the hell were they doing because you have a situation where Paul George ended up in Philly but the Golden State Warriors had received permission weeks ago to talk from the Clippers to talk to Paul George and when you hear what you hear emanating out of golden state is like yo they offered players it could have been a Wiggins it could have been even a kaminga or a CP3 a combination of some sort right or you know depending on what iteration of a trade you’re looking at but the Clippers were insistent from what I’ve been hearing they were insistent on picks as well so you let Paul George walk out for nothing you got it you Shannon brought this up you traded you traded for Paul George you traded away Shay gilis Alexander my league MVP this past season danello galinari five first round picks with the ability to swap two additional first round picks and and and and these years later with one Conference Finals appearance and nothing else to show for it in all the years that he’s been in Los Angeles you let this man walk out the door for nothing this is one of those days where we got to ask this question about Lawrence Frank what the hell were you doing [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Brian Windhorst, Shannon Sharpe and Kendrick Perkins talk about the BIGGEST storylines around the NBA.
0:00 Stephen A.’s rules of hosting First Take
1:40 Paul George is joining the Philadelphia 76ers
6:50 76ers were “already dime piece”
11:30 76ers’ roster

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