Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers is one of the biggest dominos this offseason, and while there was a recent report that the Philadelphia 76ers have cooled off on pursuing him, there remains significant interest in signing him as a free agent, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
The 76ers and Orlando Magic are the two teams that could afford to sign Paul George in free agency if he decides to opt-out of his current contract with the Clippers, while opting into his deal could open up the possibility of other destinations, like the New York Knicks. Brian Windhorst of ESPN indicated that we should hear what route George is going to go sooner than other big pieces that could move this offseason.
“Well let's remember that Paul George has three options, one is to re-sign with the Clippers, two is to enter free agency and go somewhere else like Philly or Orlando, three, he could opt-in to his contract and get traded by this weekend,” Brian Windhorst said on Get Up. “That is something that is going to come to a head in the next day or two if he wants to go with that option, because obviously you'd have to negotiate a trade. And then the team wouldn't necessarily need salary cap space. So the Paul George sweepstakes is going to come to a head, at least that aspect of it, faster than other players who are going to be free agents like Klay Thompson or DeMar DeRozan. So Paul George has a different menu of options, and we're going to see some action in that probably coming up very quickly after the draft.”
With the NBA Draft taking place this week, the results of that could present clarity for teams and what they want to do in free agency, which could play into George's impending decision. It will be worth monitoring reports surrounding him going into this weekend.
Who are fallback options for the 76ers if they miss out on Paul George?
The 76ers appear intent on landing a significant piece to help Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey this offseason, and George seems at or near the top of the list of options. However, other names like Jimmy Butler in a trade or OG Anunoby on a short-term, higher market average annual salary free agent deal are potential fallback options, according to Scotto.
Also, the 76ers have been linked to Zach LaVine, but seem less interested after Alex Caruso was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder and is no longer able to be attached in a deal. Other names mentioned by Scotto are Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown.
It will be interesting to see what the 76ers do with the flexibility that they do have.
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