After opting out of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, Paul George is viewed by many as the top prize of NBA free agency. Looking at the rest of this year’s free-agency pool that’s probably true.
LeBron James is technically a free agent but after the Lakers hired J.J. Reddick as head coach and drafted his son Bronny, there is zero chance he’s leaving L.A. So, that leaves George as arguably the most coveted free agent on the market. But is PG really the answer for a would-be contender wanting to take that next step toward title town?
There’s no guarantee he’ll part ways with the Clippers after opting out of his deal. This is used as a bargaining chip to get more money from the same team in many situations. It’s the same route James has chosen many times.
“People saying chasing a championship… It’s not that,” George said on a recent episode of his podcast, “but it’s playing the right style of basketball is what I’m chasing.”
George is different because he isn’t tied to the Clippers organization the same way James is to the Lakers at this point. However, it might be reason to expect him to stay in L.A. given that he wanted to return home five years ago after playing in Indiana and Oklahoma City over the first nine years of his career.
In the beginning, there was so much promise and expectation when George arrived at the behest of fellow southern California native, Kawhi Leonard. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer put this team together with George and Leonard leading the way to compete for and win championships.
Five years later, George and the Clippers advanced to the playoffs in four of those seasons and appeared in one Western Conference Finals series. It hasn’t been an abject failure, but the Clippers have yet to come close in terms of consistently contending for a title.
With Leonard’s health in question year after year, George has been the de facto leader of the team – even at times when the former is on the court. As a nine-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection, Geroge is one of the better players of his era.
As good as George has been individually going back to his days with the Pacers, though, his teams have often come up short. And he’s been either the No. 1 or No. 2 option most of his time in the NBA.
During George’s second and final year (2018-19) with the Thunder, he experienced what is considered to have been his peak as a pro. That year George averaged career highs in points (28), rebounds (8.2) and steals (2.2) per game. Those stats helped George finish third in MVP and Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Fast forward to that year’s postseason and George’s Thunder were eliminated in the first round by the Portland Trail Blazers in five games. This was during Russell Westbrook’s triple-double run. Westbrook even finished in the top 10 in MVP voting as this was his third consecutive campaign posting a triple-double.
All that firepower and the Thunder were out in the first round of the playoffs. So, while George may be the best free agent on the market five years later, the notion that he can push a contender over the top could be debatable.
Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Golden State Warriors are reportedly interested in George’s services this summer. George is a phenomenal talent, that’s never been in question. But based on his track record it’s hard to say he’s the one piece to push an organization over the top.