Clippers, Paul George ‘Apart’ in Contract Talks, Future Uncertain

One of the teams that people will be keeping a close eye on during the 2024 NBA offseason is the Los Angeles Clippers. The next few weeks are extremely important for the franchise, as another underwhelming showing in the postseason could lead to some major changes coming in the summer.

One of the players who everyone will be keeping tabs on is Paul George. He and the Clippers have reportedly been discussing a contract extension for a while, but the sides haven’t come close to an agreement.

After Kawhi Leonard signed his extension, many people thought a deal for George would be coming down the pipe shortly after so that they could mirror their time with the franchise again. But, according to ESPN’s NBA Insider Brian Windhorst, the two sides are far apart.

“Now, they can’t sign [James] Harden to an extension during the season,” Windhorst said. “That’s not permitted by his style of contract. So that’s not a surprise nothing’s happened there. But it’s now been three months, give or take, and there’s been no agreement on Paul George and the word in the NBA is that they’re apart. It’s not like, let’s have a big problem. They’re apart.”

This isn’t the first time that NBA rumors have swirled about the Clippers not being willing to meet George’s asking price. More than likely, he is seeking out a max deal that the team just isn’t comfortable handing out at this point in time.

If no agreement is reached and George does hit free agency this offseason, there will be suitors for him. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia 76ers are one team to keep an eye on as a potential landing spot.

The 76ers are hoping that the Clippers will let George slip away, allowing them to pounce in NBA free agency this summer. Philadelphia has positioned themselves to be major players this offseason, as Joel Embiid and Paul Reed are the only players under contract beyond the 2023-24 campaign.

If they manipulate things correctly, they could come away with a max player such as George and still have money to fill in the roster with solid role players. Their last order of business would be inking Tyrese Maxey to a long-term deal, giving them a very dangerous Big 3 to deal with in the Eastern Conference.