The Los Angeles Clippers and their All-Star forward, Paul George have still not been able to come to an agreement on an extension. With the NBA off-season coming closer each day, it makes us wonder if both sides are willing to part ways after 5 years of business together.
While the once premium forward has produced at a seemingly high level for the majority of his tenure with the franchise, there has been nothing short of downs since his arrival. After all, Paul George was in the MVP conversation all but 6 years ago when he would go on to average 28ppg and 8.2rbg, both being career high averages, he hasn’t had an equal amount of success in his time in Los Angeles.
Between being banged up and more or less inefficient for his squad, perhaps it’s of mutual agreement to part ways. After all, the once highly praised Los Angeles Clippers team that was donned to win numerous championships has only made a single Western Conference Finals appearance.
What’s Next for Paul George?

With all this in mind, it’s time to talk about both Paul George’s future as well as the Los Angeles Clippers:
Paul George is now entering into year 15. His numbers are declining at a consistent rate. Although, it should be mentioned, the 2023-24 NBA season, Paul George had recorded the most amount of games played since 2018-19 while he was still dominating with Russell Westbrook, his now teammate. This isn’t the same player though. Rather then a mere shadow of his past self. His value as a player and a championship component has gone down drastically.
This doesn’t necessarily mean Paul George’s stock as a whole has regressed to a point of no value. There are a handful of teams that would very much benefit from his potential contributions. The Philadelphia 76ers being one.
There has been quite the amount of rumors surrounding Paul George taking his talents to the City of Brotherly Love. Pairing him with a dominating force, this of course being Joel Embiid, would be a change unlike any other George has seen in his career. Throw in Tyrese Maxey and you now have a strong contender coming right out of the gates, but like his whole career, his health will always be in question. Going further into patterns, Joel Embiid has also struggled immensely to stay on the court as well.
This 76ers team is deep and full of potential as they exist right now. Putting Paul George, a 3 level scorer who has still proven to be a strong wing defender would be exponentially more productive than keeping Tobias Harris. A player who has done nothing but regress in his time spent in Philadelphia. Cutting ties with Tobias Harris would be nothing but beneficial for the team. Replacing his position for a versatile and dangerous Paul George is even better. This is a team who has been waiting for there third star ever since Jimmy Butler was signed and traded to the Miami Heat.
The league is getting younger, bolder, and much more versatile while accepting smaller level contracts. This is incredibly valuable information for the Los Angeles Clippers as they have been stuck in the same spot for countless seasons.
What is the true value of the Clippers? While having Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden under contract, they accumulated a total of 51 regular season wins for the 4th best record in the Western Conference. This ties their highest they’ve reached since the 2016-17 NBA season. Though as per usual, they crumbled in horrendous fashion after getting dominated by the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games.
The Future of the Los Angeles Clippers

This is a team that has attempted unlimited combinations to surround their two stars. At a certain point, the Clippers have to realize this is not a working squad. The best move for them is to cut their losses, admit the past 5 years have been a complete failure, and blow things up.
Kawhi Leonard, the teams star was once again vacant from a possible playoff push. The teams other two superstars, James Harden and Paul George were a no show for half of the series and once you figured they’d have gotten their play in check, you would get another slug fest from the two.
Behind that there lies Ivica Zubac, an underrated, but underwhelming center and Norman Powell who is also underrated, but not a piece valuable to a team with rebuilding in their future. They have no valuable picks until 2030 as you traded all of them to obtain your current stars, but you have business to give and while it may seem insane to put Kawhi Leonard on the trading block, we all have to remember, it is not 2019 anymore.
There is no fire lit in the former 2x Finals MVP. It should no longer sound crazy to mention something like this, especially when you’re in the position the Los Angeles Clippers are.
It’s Time to Move On

As a whole, the Los Angeles Clippers invested years of building a potential future for one Western Conference Finals appearance. Paul George is destined to receive a rather large contract this off-season and it just does not make any logical sense whatsoever for the Los Angeles Clippers to reach out and offer a contract that Paul George is willing to accept.
It’s time for both sides to call their time together what it was and mutually separate. The Clippers can still receive value from him and George can play next to other stars that may elevate his production in hopes for a championship run.
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