NBA superstar seals future with $317m contract
Paul George and the Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a four-year, $317 million AUD free-agent contract, a person with knowledge of the deal has confirmed.
A nine-time NBA All-Star, George intends to sign the contract shortly after the league’s moratorium on signings is lifted July 6 the source confirmed to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal cannot be announced yet.
With George joining 2023 MVP Joel Embiid and All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers will boast one of the most formidable trios in the league.
George picked Philadelphia after he spurned the Los Angeles Clippers and declined a player option in his contract for the 2024-2025 season, ending a five-year stretch with the team where he averaged at least 21.5 points each season.
Paul George in action for the Clippers during the playoffs.
“Paul has informed us that he is signing his next contract with another team,” the Clippers said in a release Monday (AEST).
“We negotiated for months with Paul and his representative on a contract that would make sense for both sides, and we were left far apart. The gap was significant.
"We understand and respect Paul’s decision to look elsewhere for his next contract.”
The 34-year-old George joins a Sixers team that has been a perennial underachiever, even as Embiid blossomed into one of the top players in the NBA.
They have not won an NBA title since 1983 or even advanced out of the second round of the Eastern Conference since 2001.
Embiid fueled rumors George was headed to Philadelphia during a TV appearance together during the NBA Finals.
The 76ers have failed to find the right pieces to build around Embiid, with the likes of Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler and James Harden all struggling at the franchise.
Team president Daryl Morey had prepared for this opportunity for years, building a roster with essentially all expired contracts at the end of this past season.
Embiid and Maxey, expected to sign a five-year, $307 million contract this summer, are the lone key holdovers on a team chasing NBA champion Boston, New York and Indiana.
“We’re planning on being the best team in the East next season,” Morey said at the Draft.
George at least keeps them in the mix in the East.