Few franchises communicate about the departure of one of their stars before any transaction takes place. The Clippers announced on Sunday the end of the Paul George period, and five years of collaboration with the All-Star winger. The Los Angeles franchise explains having negotiated “months” with the player’s camp, without being able to find common ground. And that the gap between the proposals of the two parties was “significant”.
After extending Kawhi Leonard during the season, then James Harden in the first hours of free agency on Sunday, the Clippers will now plan without Paul George but with more financial flexibility.
« Coming into our offseason, our roster was built with three big players 33 and older, two of whom could become free agents. » writes the Californian franchise. “ We wanted to keep them on contracts that allowed us to continue building the team despite the new constraints of the new collective bargaining agreement. We negotiated for months with Paul and his representatives on a contract that made sense for both sides, and we were far from it. »
The Clippers explored the idea of a trade
The new residents of Inglewood explain that they have worked on the scenario of an exchange after Paul George activated his contract option for next season, in vain. “ This would have left us in a similar position vis-à-vis the CBA (the collective agreement), with very little to justify the restrictions » that this deal would have imposed, specify the Clippers.
« We understand and respect Paul’s decision to look elsewhere for his next contract. […] We are enthusiastic about the opportunities offered to us, among them more flexibility. Kawhi is an All-NBA player, and we think Ty Lue is the best coach in the league. We will field a very competitive team this season and in the future we will use our management advantages to bring top-notch talent back to the Inuit Dome. »
ESPN and Adrian Wojnarowski add that Paul George has already begun his search since he was scheduled to meet with a delegation from the Sixers on Sunday evening in Los Angeles. The Philadelphia franchise is now positioned as the favorite to recover “PG13” and surround Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey with a player who was still averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists last season.
But who will never have managed to take the Clippers to the top, between his own injuries, and those of Kawhi Leonard. In five years, they will have reached the conference final only once, beaten by the Suns in 2021.
In any case, they wasted no time in finding a replacement for Paul George, with the signing of Derrick Jones Jr.
