Will PG-13 make the 76ers TOP OF THE EAST? 👀 + Can the Clippers still contend? 😳 | NBA Today

Will PG-13 make the 76ers TOP OF THE EAST? 👀 + Can the Clippers still contend? 😳 | NBA Today

the biggest name in free agency made a decision Paul George has agreed to a four-year $212 million max deal with the Sixers it’s according to W he leaves the Clippers to join fellow Allstar Joel embiid Tyrese Maxi in Philadelphia on a roster that really has undergone a complete overhaul this off season the busiest man in the business is back with us now wo is here so Paul George was the key name in free agency several teams were in the play as of yesterday and your reporting it jolted me out of a snooze at like just past midnight out here on the West Coast W so how did he end up in Philadelphia here I mean start with this simply Malika the fact that the Clippers were unwilling to offer him a fourth year on a new deal they got Kawhi Leonard done at three years just under the Max uh and they wanted to get Paul George done in the same neighborhood uh and he wanted that fourth year and I think without a trade uh a trade V well trade veto power in your deal which only one player in the league has um and that’s Bradley Beal nobody wants to give that out again what you worry about is if things go wrong in La you sign at that lower number in three years and then you get traded you could end up in Philly except on the Clipper contract not the four years $212 million uh that he was able to land with the Sixers I think those were all elements of it you know but the chance to go to Philly it’s obvious the group he’s walking in there with Joel embiid uh Tyrese Maxi it’s going to be hard to have a lot of talent around them we know what it looks like when you pay three players like this uh but they were able to keep Kelly UB I know Paul George was excited about that and uh listen this is a little bit out of Paul George’s element to go to Philly you know a hardcore eastern city a tough City for any athlete to play in but there’s High reward here and a chance uh like the Knicks are doing loading up at that Wing position to take on the Boston Celtics certainly Philly got one of the very best in the NBA and and now you know Paul George you know walks into that cap space in Philadelphia and they went back and forth for months yeah with the Clippers and they just were not going uh they just felt they were not going to pay a player at 37 38 years old upward of $60 million that they just couldn’t put a team around a player at that age um to have any any belief that you’d be B to win well the potential High reward that you mentioned WS it’s reflected in the odds the 76ers they were 12 to1 to win the title before the Paul George agreement now with your reporting that has dropped all the way down to 8 to1 which is the third best in the NBA behind only the Celtics and the Denver Nuggets we’re going to get to the Denver Nuggets part in just a little bit but W mentioned it it’s sort of an arms race right to keep up with the Celtics the Knicks the Sixers they all spent a ton of money this offseason we’re going to get to the Clipper side I know you’re champing at the bit to get there rich and just a little bit but I do want to stick with the Sixers for just a minute here Zach the addition of Paul George that puts them where in your mind in the Eastern Conference the Celtics are still the bar the Celtics are still the measuring stick but this big three is tailor made it’s it’s about as good of a big three in terms of positions they don’t overlap at all offense defense all of it it’s as good a big three as you’re going to find in the NBA right now and it’s a good fit but now though they actually have to build the team and part of the reason that Boston is still the measuring stick and still the bar is Philly does this every year where they just remake the ENT entire team and at some point the lack of continuity has a little bit of a cost in building your team and look health is always an issue with Joel embiid in the playoffs sometimes an issue with Paul George and like those two guys to be a little generous their playoff track record is checkered and it’s going to be put up or shut up time for both of them if they that’s really generous it’s well look like there were times against look the healthiest part of it Joel’s been hurting a lot of playoffs a lot of freakish injuries there were parts of that Nick Series in crunch time where he did not look like he wanted the ball or had the confidence to take the big shots and big moments and like it’s going to be put up our shut up time this is the team this is the moment this is the time you’re not going to have chances like this they have the upside to win the championship they did not have that before Paul George but look Boston is still here everybody is chasing Boston Zack he was playing on one legue in average 30 plus he was amazing I’m saying Jo lmb was playing on one leg averag averaging 30 plus and Boston not just setting the bar for the Eastern Conference they’re setting the bar for the league they’re the NBA champions but when it comes down to looking at what this 76 team already look like and I know they got to fill in some blanks but the sign of uh of uh Andre Drummet bringing in Eric Gordon bringing back Kelly UB they got some pieces right now healthwise this team could compete for a title right now I love what T Tyrese Maxi he got a he got a uh his opportunity to go through his stages of learning in that Nick series and we saw that he could be the best player in the game at any given moment and take over a game so I mean the ceiling is high like I I will say this Joel andb is under the most pressure when it comes down to guys uh at least this season he’s the guy that’s under the most pressure when it comes down the super Superstars and I’m not saying he got to win a championship but he at bare minimum got to reach the Conference Finals uh agreed especially when healthy Philly is the second best team in the league I’m going to say that when whenn healthy now Joel’s got to be healthy when you say checkered we know what you mean that means that throughout the point of time you’re going to say maybe 20 games Paul George is going to miss some time but I already look at this big three and say that they have more depth and more Talent than what Phoenix had last year with their big three better fit for sure much better fit so even if you look at the big three and you’re like oh Phoenix didn’t have any Dept Phoenix didn’t have any of the look Grayson Allen they had Eric Gordon well Eric Gordon’s now gone Eric Gordon’s in Philly I love bringing back Kelly UB I love Eric Gordon I love the draft pick of Jared McCain I think he is just a young player that’s going to bring energy and sometimes you need that old men need young players to bring energy and I think Jared McCain so I love the depth on this roster already and if I’m one of those players that’s a veteran that’s going to be floating around on the minimum Philly is one of those teams I’m looking at minutes are there to be had yeah first off the odds makers are behind because they should have the Oklahoma City Thunder way higher that’s number one number two I wish it was about more than this I wish I could do a long analysis and have great stuff it comes down to where Joel is healthwise on April 15th MH yeah he’s healthy next year for the playoffs they got a shot he hasn’t been and that’s a problem by the way Boston benefited this year because Giannis was hurt Giannis has been hurt but last two years yeah every year benefits from I wish it was about more than that yeah if Joelle is himself anything is possible but he’s not been himself it’s as Brown used to say when he was with the 76ers it’s all about how the plane lands on April 15th all right Paul George he is gone from the Clippers let’s just take some inventory real quick they did agree to terms with James Harden 70 million over two years nabbed a starter from the finals uh from the Mavericks Derrick Jones Jr also agreed to a deal with Nico Batum here so perk the Clippers do you think that they have taken themselves out of contention by not retaining Paul George even if they had Paul George they wouldn’t going to be in contention okay and if I’m kawh Leonard I would ask to get out of there because here’s the thing right he knows a guy that has won what three NBA championships he knows what a championship team look like and damn it that’s not one of them when you look at what they replace Paul George with Derek Jones Jr Kevin Porter Jr who is the the kid Chris done like are you serious where you going with that where you going besides besides the playin tournament and then battling to get into uh you know a playoff spot and going home in the first round so kawh ly we talk about Joel and beid and his health and we talk about all these guys and like how long is their Prime it’s concerning right kawh Lyon hasn’t been available and it’s just not the time I know they got to feel put butts in the seats but damn it they might have to reconsider who they next Superstars going to be and probably go into rebuild mode actions over words they don’t believe in this team they don’t believe in it they didn’t believe in it and they are moving away from it it’s going to take them a couple years to probably get themselves out of it and they are it’s it’s part of the reason why they don’t believe in is the rules the rules that have been been forced on them it would it was designed to break them up the rules worked immediately if they believed in this team they would have resigned Paul George for the max they could afford to do it it wasn’t that they couldn’t do it they would have had some guard rails and they would have had some problems if they thought they was actually going to work they would have done it they don’t believe in it now they’re going to take egg on their face it’s dripping off their face down their chin and everything like that people are going to rip their trades people are going to rip what’s happened they’re going to sit there and take it but it goes back to the fact that they didn’t believe that this team was a championship team all that’s fine all that’s fine they don’t believe it’s a championship team well they put the team together they’re the ones that put it together they’re the ones that gave away how much to bring in Paul George and what did you leave what did you leave with absolutely nothing somebody panel will somebody tell me what happened with Blake Griffin after he signed his last contract and they showed this whole thing we’re going to have your name up in the Raptors you’re the Rookie of the Year we’re going to have a stadium like named after we’re going to do everything for you Blake just come back here I promise you you’re going to be a Clipper for Life what happened the year after he signed that deal detto deis they sent him out of there my point is this the Clippers have now shown a history of this Superstar player walking away he W they trade they traded him out so when you look at are they going to take care of their guys are they going to look after the guys that have helped turn their franchise into a respectable franchise and the answer is no they did it with Blake Griffin they said that was a smart trade I’m not saying it wasn’t but at the end of the day they get rid of Blake Griffin so what when Superstar players start deciding do they want to go do they want to go to the Clippers what what are they going to look at they’re going to look at the last few Superstars that came there I’ve seen it throughout my career if you take care of superstars Allah LeBron James seeing how the Lakers took care of Kobe I’m going to come here at the end of my career and I’m going to give you guys everything I have the Clippers do not look like the type of organization that if you are a superstar you want to go invest in that’s just me that’s what the history tells us I knew you had your Easter Sunday to know but I didn’t know you was going to preach I was planning on preaching today bro I was planning on preaching when I see this stuff I’m like man what is going on we saw that suit so the Blake Griffin the Blake Griffin trade led to the kawaiian pg trades the assets they got in that enabled enabled those trades and look I think most teams would have done those transactions in 2019 when Paul George was coming off third place in MVP ballot and Kawai had a Finals MVP for them 5 years later who have won three playoff series MH and zero since 2021 and for Kawai to have not finished the season healthy since the bubble in Orlando is a massive massive disappointment there is no way around it and perk you mentioned can they pivot and trade kawi Leonard the problem is they don’t own any of their picks you know who owns them Oklahoma City still owns a Time in the Inuit Dome maybe half the toilets should go to Oklahoma City and then the Philadelphia 76ers not only did they steal Paul George from you they got your 2028 pick and they got your 2029 pick via a swap there’s nothing they can do they can’t tank unless they control their own picks well who who in the hell is calling the shots up tell him that damn Lawrence Frank and he’s still in the damn seat how about this really quickly if you had to invest and say hey we were going to move on from somebody I would have kept Paul George and moved on from kawhai if they believed in the team like Brian said Paul George would be on the team because you can sit here and tell me about aprons and money and all this you were willing to offer Paul George a three-year deal at near what Kawai money kawai’s money are the exact same money four was the Line in the Sand okay at the end of the day five seasons together for George and Leonard they had one Conference Finals appearance the first ever in the Clippers history first ever so that was for Clippers that’s success [Music] [Applause] [Music] n [Applause]

#ESPN #NBA
Adrian Wojnarowski joins Zach Lowe, Brian Windhorst, Richard Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins and Malika Andrews on NBA Today’s Free Agency Special to discuss Paul George’s 4-year/$212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.

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