76ers land Paul George: All-Star forward agrees to four-year, $212M deal in NBA free agency

Paul George has agreed to a four-year, $212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers in NBA free agency, CBS Sports NBA insider Bill Reiter confirmed Monday. George will now be joining Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in the Eastern Conference’s newest star trio as he attempts to win his first NBA championship in his 15th season in the league.George’s exit from Los Angeles has seemingly been brewing since the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard to a three-year, $153 million extension in January. 

The Clippers had reportedly hoped to re-sign George to a similar deal, but he held out for a four-year deal, ideally at his max salary. These negotiations dragged into the offseason, when it became clear that several teams were willing to pay George what he wanted. The Clippers negotiated a possible opt-in-and-trade scenario with the Golden State Warriors that ultimately did not materialize, which led to George opting out of the final year of his deal.

Once he did so, and the Clippers held firm on their decision not to give him a fourth year, it became clear that a separation was imminent. On Sunday, the team released a statement thanking George for his five seasons with the team and officially informing the basketball world that the two sides would be separation.

“Paul has informed us that he is signing his next contract with another team,” the Clippers said. “Paul is a tremendous talent and an elite two-way player. … We negotiated for months Paul and his representative on a contract that would make sense for both sides, and we were left far apart. The gap was significant. We understand and respect Paul’s decision to look elsewhere for his next contract.”

When free agency began, it was reported that George would meet with the Clippers, 76ers and Orlando Magic, but once the Clippers bowed out and the Magic spent some of their cap space on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the path was cleared for him to join the 76ers. Philadelphia has spent the past year planning for this exact pursuit. They held off on extending Tyrese Maxey last offseason knowing…


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Author : Sam Quinn

Publish date : 2024-07-01 11:46:47

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