Paul George gave a rare glimpse at the negotiation process that led him to sign a four-year, $212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. During the episode, George revealed that in October 2023, the Clippers offered him a two-year, $60 million which turned him off. However, ESPN’s Zach Lowe believes that George missed out on key details while discussing the initial offer by his former franchise.
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While admitting that offering that kind of contract to George is disrespectful, he highlighted that its timing raises many questions. Lowe recalled that around October 2023, the Clippers had not yet acquired James Harden and hadn’t extended Kawhi Leonard’s contract so they had a ton of cap space left.
The ESPN analyst guessed that the franchise would have given George an opt-in clause for his last year on the previous extension, which would have paid him $50 million in addition to the 2-year, $60 million deal. He said,
“My educated guess is that was opt-in for $50 million, remember he had the player option for $48.7 million that he turned down, and then on top of that we will add $60 million, which sounds less bad than just two years $60 million.
Lowe posited that while offering him a contract lower than the value market, the franchise would have tried to convince him that it was to get him more help during the 2025 offseason. On his The Lowe Post pod, he stated,
The carrot that they could have theoretically dangled there was ‘You take that deal, we’re in position to have cap space in summer of 2025-2026 and who knows who we could get to help you guys, you and Kawhi.”
Lowe acknowledged that even such an offer would have offended PG-13. Things would have become trickier when they extended Kawhi Leonard on a 3-year/$150 million deal. This would have made George question the franchise’s commitment to him. If they wanted to keep him for a long term, why did they offer him a two-year contract?
The ESPN analyst argued that the Clippers have a habit of giving their premier athletes hope but then, end up abandoning them. He cited the example of Blake Griffin who was given a jersey retirement ceremony just six months before they traded him to the Pistons.
The 46-year-old found the trade feasible in the long run but disapproved of how the Clippers operated in Griffin’s case. He stated that they did something similar to George by offering him an underwhelming contract. Thus, while relaying that George missed some key details while discussing the Clippers’ contract offer, Lowe did understand why he must have felt disrespected.
In the current market, an elite two-way guard would resent signing a short-term, low-value deal that George received. Unsurprisingly, he locked in a contract with the 76ers, who were willing to give him long-term security alongside his real monetary value.
