In one of the biggest signings of the year, Paul George accepted the 76ers’ offer of $212 million for four years. This was shocking because NBA enthusiasts expected PG-13 to stay in LA till the end of his career. On Podcast P with Paul George, the 34-year-old detailed his process of negotiations with the Clippers. He unveiled every detail that led to him deciding to leave LA. And George’s honesty seemed to have a massive impact on Matt Barnes.
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It’s rare to hear what exactly unfolded behind closed doors from the horse’s mouth. Barnes couldn’t help but express his admiration for the 34-year-old. He commented on the IG post,
“This is dope to really be able to hear how negotiations went. Congrats on the new deal bro & good luck!!”
Clippers veteran Matt Barnes shows love to Paul George for sharing his experience of negotiating with teams in this free agency pic.twitter.com/4zibmhxb5r
— Ballerz Worldwide (@ballaznba) July 8, 2024
George confessed that he never wanted to leave LA as he considers it his home. He said, “That was the goal, to be here and be committed to L.A. As it played out though, the first initial deal was, I thought, kind of disrespectful, right. And again, in all of this, no hard feelings.”
Even though he didn’t have any hard feelings in the beginning, the Clippers’ offer of $60 million for two years disappointed him.
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PG-13 added that after seeing the franchise move up the numbers a little, he was even fine with how much Kawhi signed for, “We came here together, we want to finish this shit together. I’ll take what Kawhi got. I was cool with that, and we were still taking less. Kawhi took less, so if Kawhi takes less, I’m not going to say I want more than Kawhi.”
Despite being fair in his demands, the Clippers refused to give him the same deal. The next offer was $150 million for three years, and George was happy with one condition. He said that the organization made him believe that they wanted him around for a long time, so, he asked them to add a no-trade clause in the contract.
To his surprise, they refused to take him up on it. After that, it was pretty much over, and it was reasonable for him to take the deal in Philly. As things stand, PG will be in Philly for the next season and the Joel Embiid-Tyrese Maxey-George trio is expected to win big.
