West Scout On Sixers’ Paul George Signing: ‘I Think He’s On The Decline’

Among the biggest stories of the NBA offseason was the Philadelphia 76ers’ acquisition of All-Star forward Paul George, most recently of the Los Angeles Clippers.

But one opposing scout said he’s not as high on the move as some others.

“I think he’s on the decline,” the Western Conference scout said, via Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

George, 34, received a four-year, $212 million max deal from the 76ers. He’s joining fellow All-Stars in center Joel Embiid and guard Tyrese Maxey in a revamped lineup that gives the Sixers a new Big Three. Forward Caleb Martin, guard Eric Gordon and center Andre Drummond are other notable veteran additions.

Clearly, the Sixers are going all in to try to get an Embiid-led team beyond the second round of the playoffs for the first time in his career. Recently, head of basketball operations Daryl Morey said the Sixers are coming for the world champion Boston Celtics.

“You’ve got to give the Celtics their credit; they won the title, they’re an excellent team, they brought everybody back, they’re the target, but we don’t feel like we give up anything to them, and we’re gonna be coming to take the title away from them,” Morey said during an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia.

Embiid also praised the addition of George.

“Yeah, I think as far as the fit, it looks amazing,” Embiid told ESPN. “It is great, especially when you got a big … I don’t like to call myself a big, but when you got a player that posts up and that isos quite a bit, you need to have willing shooters and guys that are not afraid to pull the trigger. PG, great shooter, 40%, 45 catch and shoot; Tyrese, we know great shooter, off the dribble, catch-and-shoot.

“On paper, and as far as the fit, it looks fantastic because you got both guys that can play off the ball, and they can play on ball and they’re great shooters and they can handle the ball, and then you also got me. So, yeah, it looks great.”