Is Paul George a Good Fit in Philly?
Paul George has played for the Pacers, Thunder, and the Clippers in his career. He has been involved in some of the biggest trades of the decade including the trade to the LA Clippers where he was flipped for a young Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a pile of first-round picks. He has raked in over $262M in his illustrious career. But in his 13 years, PG-13 had never been a free agent until now.
For the first time in his career, he had a big decision to make regarding his future. George grew up in the greater Los Angeles area and although he enjoyed his best scoring season during his final year in OKC in 2019, George immediately fled for his hometown where he was matched with Kawhi Leonard for what looked to be a promising, championship-filled future. Instead, the pair only reached the Western Conference Finals once in five years, largely due to Leonard’s frustrating inability to stay healthy during the playoffs.
The frustration clearly boiled over for George who declined his $48.7M option with the Clippers two days ago, allowing him to enter free agency and set meetings with teams with the cap space to sign him. Technically, George could have still returned to the Clippers on a team-friendly deal, and there were numerous other options on the table such as Orlando and Golden State (I’ll get into them later). Instead, George chose to take his talents cross-country to the City of Brotherly Love on a 5-year / $212M deal where he’ll help the 76ers in the desperate attempt to make an Eastern Conference Finals with their core of him, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey.
I like this fit for PG but I don’t love it. The positives are that Philly was able to offer him the max due to the fact that they have the most cap space in the entire NBA. The Clippers wouldn’t have been able to give him a max and after giving the hard-to-count-on Leonard a monster deal, no max for George seemed unfair. He would fill the void at starting wing which was previously occupied by Tobias Harris who was essentially useless in the postseason. In fact, George, in my mind, is just a much better version of Harris who made $37.63M last season. Thus, he is a major upgrade for Philly, and creates the top scoring big three in the league based on PPG from last year (82.8 combined points).
It is hard to win in the NBA when your best player is injured half the time and your co-star and primary ball-handler is 6’2. George is one of the better off-the-dribble technicians in the league and will take some pressure of Maxey as a creator, especially with his stocky 6’8 frame. And if you want to compete in the Eastern Conference, you need big, athletic wings to match up with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Knicks’ physicality.
As for his fit with the current roster, it’s great. There is no style of play that makes the swift, smooth George uncomfortable which is imperative on a team whose two best players are polar opposites. He’ll be deadly off of pin downs when Maxey and Embiid run the pick and roll, and can run pick and roll with Maxey himself. His shooting will make teams second guess doubling Joel Embiid—a decision opponents never had to make when sagging off of Tobias Harris. Finally, he’s an excellent late-game option with every move in the book and a reliable style that seems to get a good look no matter who is defending.
In terms of player fit, it seems undeniable that George will have a semi-efficient 20 PPG season in Philly at the very least. It’s everything off the court that concerns me. Philadelphia fans root hard, but sometimes at an expense. If a player isn’t rising to expectation, they will let you know. Three years ago, Ben Simmons shrunk so hard in the playoffs that he was essentially bullied out of the city by the fans. The Eagles get booed at home after giving up touchdowns despite putting up winning records year after year. They are notorious for calling their players out when they’re slacking.
George has played for very small markets in Indianapolis and Oklahoma City, as well as the Clippers who are the little brother of the Lakers, and therefore get significantly less press. Philly will be a whole different animal. They are the 4th largest market in the league, and as someone who has visited Philly during the NBA Playoffs, they take their sports incredibly seriously. Is George ready for that type of pressure?
The reality is that George of far from invincible to outside noise. If we trace back to the pandemic season, George was so in his head that he publicly admitted that his mental health and stress had caused him to fold in the playoffs. Since he joined the Clippers, he had averaged fewer points in the playoffs than in the regular season in two of the three seasons he played in the playoffs. Availability is also an issue. In those other two seasons, George missed 51 games which led LA to be eliminated in the Play-In Tournament, and missed the entire postseason in 2023. For most teams this wouldn’t be a huge issue, but will Joel Embiid’s status always up in the air, the 76ers don’t to room for more drama. They’ll have to gamble on George staying healthy.
I also believe there were better fits for both parties involved. He might have been better off going to an ascending franchise in Orlando where he can mentor young players and be their primary ball handler. He’s the guard version of Paolo Banchero with better shooting and would have complemented the Magic’s young star. I think Golden State would have bit a great fit too. He would stay in California, get the max, play with other all-time greats and create a lethal shooting backcourt with Steph Curry, except with more size than what Golden State has had in the last few seasons.
As for Philly’s side of it, I think Jimmy Butler was the better option for Philly. Jimmy might not be as flashy as PG and probably doesn’t have young guys singing his praises as the G.O.A.T. like George does, but he brings the tenacity, a clutch gene, deep playoff experience, and leadership that Maxey and Embiid lack and that George can’t necessarily provide.
Now, I could sit here and die on the hill that George doesn’t move the needle enough and that Philadelphia made a mistake by using all of their cap space on him, but I will not. The reality is that this year’s free agent market is incredibly weak. Philly could’ve tried to build around their two stars by adding rotational pieces like Derrick Jones Jr., Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Naji Marshall, but I believe they needed to take a swing with the Celtics running laps around the Eastern Conference. Paul George was the only true free agent signing that we could look back on in five years and say, “Everything changed for Philly with that signing.”
As for George, he is in an unsettling place in NBA history where he a ringless and statueless. Essentially, he had bounced around from team to team without building terrific reputations in any city, and has also not achieved a championship or even a Finals appearance. The 76ers are his best chance to win now, and he’ll still be able to play a big role on a championship level team for multiple years despite being the third option.
Since I’ll be doing free agency grades soon, I may as well give the George deal a grade. Money aside, since George was getting the max one way or another, the fit is great on the court, defendable off the court, and is probably the best case scenario for both George and the 76ers. I’ll give it a B+.
Great writing! 👏🏼