FIRST TAKE | Honestly, 76ers are better than my Knicks – Stephen A. Smith on Paul George join Embiid

FIRST TAKE | Honestly, 76ers are better than my Knicks – Stephen A. Smith on Paul George join Embiid

Paul George if embiid is healthy there’s no excuses embiid on one leg average 35 L on one leg we know how big time embiid is we know that Tyrese Maxi is special brother got $24 million extension yes I felt sorry for him he deserved more I know that’s the max they could give him you know but I’m just talking about his greatness he deserved more I know they couldn’t give him more but he deserved more if Paul George is what Paul George is supposed to be yes maxi and B and Paul George as much as I love my Knicks orange and blue skies baby they don’t come before Philly and Boston we know Boston’s on another level they the Champions they the Rand and defended Champions and we’ll see what happens with them but embid with maxi and Paul George yes I believe in that that’s big the Philadelphia 76ers made the biggest splash so far Landing Allstar forward Paul George earlier this morning from the Los Angeles Clippers George got a 4year 20 $2 million deal from Philadelphia and the Sixers weren’t done they also agreed to resign Tyrese Maxi to a 5year $24 million Max extension so adding Paul George and extending Maxi to a roster that already includes former League MVP Joel embiid makes the Sixers a formidable franchise in the East to say the least couple of things to get out of the way number one this definitely elevates the Sixers as the number one threat to the Boston Celtics there’s no way to slice it we can’t get around it let’s not even sugarcoat it I’m a die hard New York Knicks fan who by the way lost Isaiah hardenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder courtesy of a threeyear $87 million deal I can’t I can’t knock hartstein for taking that offer he deserves it major major props to him that’s $29 million a year over the next three years you need a rebounder and an Energizer Bunny if you’re the Oklahoma City Thunder based on everything else they have at their disposal that was a player to grab and I don’t blame Sam prey for doing so but it’s a loss for the New York Knicks and when you take into account not that he was going to make much of a difference because he certainly couldn’t stop Joel and beid who averaged 35 against the New York Knicks in the first round playoff series on one leg for crying out loud you look at the Boston Celtics the reigning defending NBA champions who are clearly the creme Dela Creme of the NBA and you ask yourself what’s the number one threat to them the number one threat to them in the Eastern Conference is the Philadelphia 76ers because 76ers nor anyone else may have an answer for Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown and the collective Excellence of the Boston Celtics but there’s no answer for Joel embiid if you look at the Sixers right now Philly fell 76ers signed in this off season Paul George Eric Gordon oneyear veteran minimum Andre jumm a big body who prioritizes rebounding and defense let’s make sure we understand that’s not a bad deal plus you resigned Maxi and a big deal was resigning Kelly UB Jr two years 16.3 million give the Sixers credit where credit is due they’re clearly the number one threat to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference those three fit I thought the end The Big Three had arrived courtesy of Kevin Durant Bradley Bill and dein book and how they wet the bed by getting swept by Minnesota in the first round of last year’s playoffs but when you look at the Philadelphia 76ers Maxi is a rising star in this league J and beid is already a superstar in this league at the center position so you got the point guard position and the center position locked up and your third wheel is a perennial Allstar in Paul George who just finished averaging 22 a game who shot 47% from the field 41% from three-point range better than 90% from the free throw line which were all career highs for him and even though he didn’t they didn’t pan out him and kawh led with the Clippers which I’ll get into in just a second there’s no question that the three should easily complement one another Paul George doesn’t have the kind of ego that will be have a cancerous effect on the franchise he fits with Joel embiid he fits with Ka uh Tyrese Maxi not to mention the fact that his defensive prowess when you got Tatum and brown and Boston that’s going to go a long way towards helping the Philadelphia 76ers because we know that Kelly UB can do a role can play a role in defending one of them Paul George can defend the other so you elevate your level of Defense you elevate your perimeter shooting you get somebody far more aggressive offensively than Tobias Harris who’s now going to Detroit I think the Philadelphia 76 has voted well for themselves but to me the pressure isn’t on and B let me get this out of the way the pressure ain’t on beid all embiid has to do is stay healthy we have no questions about his game we know he brings to the table the question about Joel embiid is this and it’s simply this can he be healthy the real pressure is on Daryl mury Nick nurse has won a title now Paul George is you know in terms of his success and his activity as long as active 10 years a player nobody’s played more games without being in an NBA Finals than Paul George we understand that but the flip side to it is that he’s relatively a third whe because this is jel and be and Tyrese Maxi’s team and so George Paul George playing that role it’s an ideal situation for him so again you got embiid you got Tyrese Maxi who you get to before you even think about Paul George and then after that you turn around and you think about Nick nurse who’s a champion as a coach because we saw what he did in Toronto when he had kawh Lennard the real question is Daryl mury you’ve been an outstanding executive recognized that such throughout the years but Daryl muray with all his changes with all the wheeling and dealing with all the moves that he’s made throughout the years has yet to guide a team to a conference to a Championship Finals NBA Finals appearance let alone a victory so the real pressure is in Philly is on Daryl Mory now let me Twitch to the Los Angeles Clippers who lost out on Paul George Lawrence Frank has to be on the clock I like Lawrence Frank I’ve known him somewhat for years from his days of coaching the Nets I’m fond of him as a person don’t know him that well um somehow elevated from being an assistant coach to being a president of basketball operations for the Clippers you don’t see that happen very often and obviously there’s a lot of people that believe you know he derail Doc Rivers and that’s a subject for another day here’s the reality the Kawai Leonard Paul George error in Los Angeles was an absolute failure one Conference Finals appearance by the way one that took place without kawh Lon because he got hurt in the semi-final series never met it to the NBA finals quit on Dark rivers and the rest of the franchise in the bubble because they never wanted to be there to be begin with and kawh land is perpetually hurt missing 60% of the playoff games now Paul George is to be applauded because most people wouldn’t do what Paul George did this morning and let me explain in 2019 when Paul George was with the Oklahoma City Thunder and kawh Lona was a free agent do y’all remember what kawh Lona did he blackmailed the Lost Angeles Clippers he told them if you don’t do everything you can to get Paul George I’m going to go and join LeBron James and eventually Anthony Davis with the Los Angeles Lakers that’s what the hell I’m going to do and the Clippers led by billionaire Steve balma couldn’t let that happen so what did they do they sat up there and they made a deal with Oklahoma City Sam prey being an outstanding executive that he is he smelled blood like Shar like Shar smell blood and shark infested waters and what did he do he milked the Los Angeles Clippers for five first round picks along with the ability to swap first round picks two additional years that’s essentially seven first round picks not to mention Shay gilis Alexander was given away by the Clippers in that deal along with Danilo galinari I don’t know if you remember who Shay gilis Alexander is he would happen to be my league MVP this year I understand yic won the award but let me tell you something Shay Gil just Alexander averaged 30 this brother’s a superstar in this league and that brother showed up to play in the playoffs against Dallas he just didn’t have any help because jayen Williams and others who I believe in by the way and I’m very fond of they didn’t show up and give him the help that he richly needed and deserved but Shay Gil just Alexander is that dude and now that they went out and they got a rebound and the defender in hardstein let me tell you something right now Oklahoma City is gonna be no joke they’re G to be no joke but in the end you’re the Los Angeles Clippers you gave up all of that for Paul George and years later you let him walk out the door for nothing they had deals on the table they’ve been negotiating with the with with the Golden State Warriors for weeks Golden State knew they were going to lose Klay Thompson who I’ll get into in just a second they knew they were going to lose him they were willing to lose them they wanted Paul George and they were trying to make a deal one deal depending on which iteration you favor one deal involved Andrew Wiggins another deal involved CP3 and potentially Andrew Wiggins another deal involved Jonathan kaminga but according to my sources Lawrence Frank insisted on two first round picks two first round picks for Paul George knowing good and damn well he wasn’t going to get them so as a result what does he do what does he do what he turns around and does is loses him for nothing and you’re the Los Angeles Clippers and the perpetually injured kawh lonard who has no business being on Team USA by the way as in the side no business no business being on Team USA USA not when when you could he’ll get injured flying to Paris hell no hell no so you get throw that out the way then the other part is not only does that happen but then you turn around and you sign James Harden 2 years 70 million now Paul George had already made it clear that he didn’t like this style of place since James Harden arriv even though he ain’t got nothing against James Harden personally so you keep you you you you invest in kawh lard to perpetually injured kawh Leonard thereby compromising your Vault all right at the expense of Paul George then you turn around after that and you give hard than two years 70 million 35 million per okay that’s what you do with him all right and we saw how he did game situations yet again in the postseason what is there to say you look at Paul George and you’re going to let him walk out the door for nothing you don’t even work out a sign and trade the Clippers this is bad this is bad and if you are Steve Balmer the billionaire listen what have you gotten out of being the owner of the Clippers what have you gotten out of it you haven’t been to the finals you haven’t won a championship you got a new arena for sure okay you’re relying on a guy that probably will be sitting on the bench and Street closed for you more than half the time and a guy in James Harden who is a Mercurial Talent no doubt even on the downside of his career he’s still big time the problem is he’s not big time and big moments and you lose Paul George after giving away all of that years ago and you and and you can’t recoup your losses it’s shameful it’s shameful props to the Philadelphia 76s for doing what they do the Los Angeles Clippers are officially the fawe the stepchildren of the Los Angeles Lakers yet again because they have LeBron and they have Anthony Davis and they got a new coach hell they even got bronny James because even though he ain’t gonna play he’ll generate more headlines than the Clippers and all you have in return is a superstar Talent who does absolutely positively nothing to promote your franchise guys nor the sport of the of NBA basketball and a James Harden who’s still damn good but not what he was during his days in Houston when he was leading the league and scoring on three separate occasions that’s what you have in you’re the Los Angeles Clippers that’s what you gave tyo who you just gave 14 million a year to coach the team that’s what you gave I mean damn

FIRST TAKE | Honestly, the 76ers are better than my Knicks – Stephen A. Smith on Paul George join Embiid