76ers ‘Loom As An Eager’ Paul George Suitor If George Becomes Free Agent

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Philadelphia 76ers loom as an eager Paul George suitor if George becomes a free agent this summer. 

George can become an unrestricted free agent this offseason if he declines his 2024-25 player option with the Los Angeles Clippers. 

“League sources say that Philadelphia continues to loom as an eager George suitor should he make it onto the open market and give the 76ers their formal opportunity to try to lure him across the country,” Stein wrote. “The Sixers are said to maintain interest in George despite the widely held presumption that he and Leonard want to keep playing together in their native Southern California.”

The Clippers have until June 30 to sign George to an extension. They signed Kawhi Leonard to a three-year, $149 million extension in January.

Many people around the NBA expected the Clippers to sign George to an extension after they signed Leonard to one. Even though George and LAC haven’t agreed to an extension yet, the leaguewide expectation persists that George and the Clippers will come to terms on a new contract. 

George is averaging 22.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.5 blocks this season while shooting 46.3% from the field, 40.0% from beyond the arc and 89.1% from the free-throw line. He’s making $45.6 million.

The Clippers are 42-25 on the season. They are in fourth place in the Western Conference standings. The franchise has never reached the NBA Finals. 

Leonard and George joined the Clippers in the summer of 2019. LAC lost in the second round of the 2020 playoffs, lost in the 2021 Western Conference Finals, missed the postseason in 2022 and lost in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. 

According to NBA insider Howard Beck of The Ringer, the Clippers are expected to go all out to keep George and James Harden regardless of how they fare in the 2024 playoffs.