This summer time’s premier free agent is, strictly talking, a costar. Not one of the golf equipment chasing Paul George are doing so at hand him the keys to their offense; an enormous a part of George’s attraction is that you just don’t should. He performs a balanced recreation that’s enticing particularly as a result of it isn’t dominant or intrusive—a simple match for nearly any lineup and any model. As such, it’s not a shock that so many successful groups would have curiosity in signing or buying and selling for George, although the breadth of that curiosity offers him a startling quantity of energy. The offseason market now successfully hinges on his resolution.
What George’s suitors have to supply in trade for his versatile, all-around play is the possibility to hitch a longtime crew and make it one thing extra. What the Clippers have to supply, by comparability, is the acquainted: a chance for George to proceed apace with the identical operating mate in the identical group whereas residing and enjoying in what is kind of his hometown. George spent years angling to get again to Southern California. It stands to motive that he wouldn’t be simply lured away. But the Clippers have had the chance to increase George’s contract for nearly a yr, and no deal has been struck—at the same time as Kawhi Leonard conspicuously inked his personal three-year extension again in January.
That distinction speaks to the apparent disconnect in negotiations between George and the Clippers, but additionally to the various ranges of standing concerned. Prime-line superstars like Leonard nearly by no means make it to free company anymore. They’re prolonged or traded, often at their request, accommodated to the very finish on their very own phrases. Second stars are enticing sufficient to swing the market, however not so enticing, apparently, as to be saved off it within the first place. Free company was a time for groups to clear home and take dangers—to reinvent themselves within the picture of a famous person. Now, it’s a time for groups to reinforce what they do with out actually altering who they’re.
The reported snag in George’s return to the Clippers is his curiosity in a four-year deal, one yr longer and one yr richer than the crew is inclined to supply. The crew’s concern is definitely honest. George, now 34 years outdated, has performed in about two-thirds of the Clippers’ video games in his 5 seasons with the crew, his availability typically graded on a curve solely as a result of Leonard has performed even much less. The concept of those Clippers might by no means stand as much as the power accidents and mounting surgical procedures of the 2 stars who had been supposed to carry all of it collectively. The 2023-24 season was George’s healthiest marketing campaign in a half decade, however he’s now 5 years faraway from his blockbuster commerce to the Clippers and 5 years older, with little to point out for it. Time has made George a unique participant. He can’t carry prime defensive assignments each evening anymore, or no less than he shouldn’t. His jumper is as regular as ever, however he’s attending to the basket much less steadily than at any level in his profession.
But the Clippers can’t actually afford to lose George, at the same time as they posture as if they’ll. Push just a little too onerous and PG would possibly wind up a Sixer, or perhaps even a Knick—whereas a Clippers lineup led by Leonard (assuming he’s wholesome) and James Harden (assuming he re-signs) headlines the opening of the Intuit Dome. The very best model of George flanks different stars, working off the ball in ways in which permit gamers as specific as Leonard and Harden to thrive. And one of the best model of the Clippers leans on George to offer the connective tissue between in any other case disparate perimeter skills. Even when Kawhi was out of the lineup, George shifted and tailored to supply a variety of lineups no matter they wanted. It’s doable that the free company rumors, the opt-in-and-trade situations, and the side-eye from Joel Embiid is all simply theater, a method for George to get what he needed from the Clippers within the first place. But different high quality groups appear fairly keen to play alongside, their hopes pinned to the chance that these talks will go sideways.
Basketball stardom typically evokes iso work and takeover scoring. George has that in his recreation, however what makes him such a really perfect second star is the way in which he brings a whole roster collectively. His talent set makes house for teammates of all types; George can cowl for missing defenders, make up for restricted playmakers, and create lanes for straight-line drivers. These qualities might change into much more useful within the age of the second apron. The best-spending groups within the league will now be extra reliant than ever on cut price expertise, helpful in some methods however clearly flawed in others. And people types of conditional gamers fare nicely subsequent to a utility star like George. He’s not suited to hold a crew, however reasonably to help one—binding a rotation collectively to make each a part of it stronger.
It’s due to that flexibility that, even 14 seasons in, George stays the closest factor the NBA has to a platonic excellent on the wing. Superstars like Leonard are distinctive figures, so preposterous of their skill to generate offense that they’re afforded a type of utilization and latitude different gamers usually are not. The one option to play like Kawhi Leonard is to be no less than vaguely, conceivably pretty much as good as Kawhi Leonard—in any other case, an up-and-coming wing would by no means be given the possibility to create within the trend Kawhi does within the first place. However there’s something in George’s recreation for each wing participant of all ages and kind to emulate, which is how he grew to become an archetype for a whole era of wings. Prospects from Brandon Miller to GG Jackson can map George’s recreation onto theirs and see a fluid, attainable type of stardom. Leonard made an all-time profession via brute effectivity and jagged edges. George discovered his method right into a smoother model, in type and performance, that has positioned him, even now, as one of many sport’s most seamless second choices.
George and Leonard have performed nicely collectively when their our bodies have given them the possibility, although that’s largely as a result of George might play nicely with anybody. That’s what’s so attractive about his free company; groups are lining as much as hand a large contract to an growing old wing with a regarding harm historical past as a result of he makes a lot sense alongside another star on the market. George could be a dream pairing for Embiid, flowing out and in of dribble handoffs and tugging at defenses from the weak facet. He’d be an ideal strain launch for Jalen Brunson, who would profit not solely from George’s first-class capturing, but additionally from the size he would deliver to New York’s lineup. Subsequent to George, Paolo Banchero would see daylight for the primary time in his Magic profession, all with out compromising Orlando’s rangy, adaptable essence. The panorama of the league won’t change with George’s signing—or with the choice of any participant who would hit free company today—however the destiny of no less than a number of groups would possibly.
At this level, George has tried carrying a crew of his personal, working alongside one of many highest-usage superstars within the league, and fronting a contemporary superteam. Going again to the Clippers could be a continuation of that final level, a return to basically the identical well-worn aggressive circumstance he handpicked 5 years in the past. It additionally, in a basketball sense, is likely to be one of many tougher contending paths out there to him. There’s clear, indeniable proof that having a number of star wings can produce a title, because the bits of confetti nonetheless strewn about TD Backyard can corroborate. But these star pairings require a type of work and negotiation that others don’t—of position, of specialty, and of the literal house on the ground. The very best famous person wing tandems may be overwhelming, even unstoppable. However a pair of do-it-all wings has to steer round one another, mixing in ways in which aren’t at all times intuitive.
George is smart for any crew, however at this stage in his profession, not each roster makes probably the most sense for him. A lot modified for George when the Clippers added Harden, a devoted playmaker who freed him from the play-to-play logistics of producing offense and allowed him to play extra to his off-ball strengths. That may very well be an enticement to return—another reason to hope that, if solely the Clippers stars can keep wholesome, they could lastly make good on all of their on-paper promise. It is also a window to the opposite facet, and a reminder that there are different proficient groups on the market working with a type of ease and construction the Clippers have by no means actually had.