Paul George says chasing championships is not his priority: ‘It’s playing the right style of basketball’

Assuming LeBron James stays with the Lakers, the biggest free agent on the market this summer is Paul George. He is unrestricted and can go to any team that has the resources to add him, either via cap space or a sign-and-trade with the Clippers if George makes it clear he’s going to leave anyway. The Philadelphia 76ers have made it clear he’s their top target, and they just happen to have max salary-cap space. 

In May, the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Keith Pompey reported that the Clippers are “unwilling to offer George more than the three-year, $152.3 million extension [they] gave to Kawhi Leonard.” 

The Clippers can offer George his full max of $221 million over four years, but if they won’t go that far, and the 76ers will, would George leave Los Angeles for a shot at a championship alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey? 

“At this point, I’m not even necessarily, this is not even about — people say chasing a championship, it’s not that. It’s playing the right style of basketball is what I’m chasing,” George recently said on his podcast. 

What does George mean by playing the right style of basketball? He didn’t elaborate. That quote you just read was the last thing he said and the podcast signed off. Obviously he wasn’t going to say anything that would actually betray his summer intentions, if he’s even leaning one direction or another at this point, but that’s pretty ambiguous. 

What team doesn’t play the right style of basketball according to its personnel? That’s a subjective thing. Kevin Durant said he went to the Warriors because he wanted to play in their ball and player movement system, which, at the time, was an entirely different system from that of pretty much any other team in the NBA. 

But now? There are pretty small differences from team to team and it’s based on personnel. In general, you have the teams that move the ball and the teams that play a more heliocentric style built around high-usage stars like Luka Doncic or Trae Young. George played with James Harden with the Clippers, but he’s no longer the totally…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/paul-george-says-chasing-championships-is-not-his-priority-its-playing-the-right-style-of-basketball/

Author : Brad Botkin

Publish date : 2024-06-20 00:49:20

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