Paul George’s Departure Unlocks James Harden’s Potential, Says 1x NBA Champ

Paul George‘s departure from the Los Angeles Clippers has been the talk of the town lately. With the 34-year-old having joined the Philadelphia 76ers, many wondered what kind of position this leaves his former franchise in. However, as Jeff Teague explained on a recent episode of the Club 520 podcast, this could actually be a blessing in disguise. After all, James Harden will now have the space to take the leap next season.

A former NBA player himself, Teague understood the disadvantages that come with having too many superstars in the same broth. He explained that, up until now, Harden was forced to sacrifice quite a bit for the team, trying to accommodate George.

However, with his former teammate now having departed for the 76ers, Jeff Teague believes that The Beard now has more room to operate, and could be a far better version of himself next season. He said,

“Less is more sometimes. Like, You get rid PG [Paul George], you get Derrick Jones Jr. Now Kawhi might be healthy or whatever. But it unlocks James Harden now. He don’t gotta force the ball to PG. Now, he can be himself a little bit.”

Teague then went on to explain that the franchise also has “glue guy pieces now”. He explained that now that they have gotten rid of a superstar, and added supporting pieces around the remaining ones, the Clippers should improve quite a bit.

Jeff’s opinion does make sense. After all, having too many superstars on the same team can often turn the offense into a series of 1v1s. So. having more glue guys to rotate the ball, and run some real offense, while showing up on defense as well, certainly can’t hurt.

That said, just how well this will really work coming out of the gate will have to be seen. After all, losing one of their key pieces is a massive change for the team to adapt to. However, with several high-IQ guys on the team, hopefully, the roster can figure it out before long.

As for Paul George’s side of the equation, Teague reacted to his move to the 76ers as well, as he spoke about the franchise’s offseason as a whole. However, rather than congratulating the team, he was a bit lukewarm on the whole thing.

Jeff Teague reacts to the Philadelphia 76ers’ offseason

On the very same episode of the Club 520 podcast, Jeff Teague was somewhat positive about Philadelphia’s offseason. However, he was far from excited about anything they have done so far, despite their massive Paul George acquisition.

“I think Philly did a good job this free agency. I mean, getting Andre Drummond for a backup center that you know is capable of having big nights… When Joel [Embiid] get hurt, because there is probably a 90% chance he going to miss 25-30 games… Keeping Kelly Oubre, because Paul George gon miss quite a few games.”

George likely won’t be happy hearing that he will miss “quite a few games”. However, the reality of the situation is that Jeff Teague is right. At the end of the day, he has shown himself to be a bit of an injury-prone player. So, the Philadelphia 76ers have done a good job in keeping Kellyu Oubre Jr. on the books just in case.

Still, this was likely the reason that Teague didn’t seem as hyped about the Philadelphia 76ers as most others do within the NBA community.

Perhaps, when the season starts, the team can prove him wrong. But then again, being a former NBA player himself, JT knows what he’s talking about. So, it will be a bit difficult to offset his prophecy.