Today, George opted to jump out of the player option and he was ready to become a full free agent. This also means that the Warriors and Clippers will not be able to make any more signings. After today, the Warriors may choose to cut Paul, and with a total of 70 million salary space released by Thompson's departure, the pressure on the Warriors in terms of salary will be greatly reduced, and they may not even have to pay the luxury tax. If the new season is started in a way that doesn't add now, next season could be the healthiest year for the Warriors in terms of salaries in the past few years.
Maybe it's good news for the Warriors, if you can't get George, you can just play and paddle, Curry already has a championship anyway. The Warriors owner no longer has to invest a lot of money, but he is facing a situation where he can't even make the playoffs. For Warriors fans, don't blame the owner for not fighting for Curry, because they really tried their best. The Warriors really wanted to take George and form a new trio, but the Clippers deliberately disgusted the Warriors couldn't help it.
Warriors reporter Tim Kawakami, who wrote after George jumped out of options today, angrily talked about why the trade fell through and pointed the finger at the Clippers. Kawakami said that the two sides used to be infinitely close to a trade because the Warriors were serious about talking to the Clippers, and they made the trade for George their first priority. The Warriors have agreed to give George the four-year, $221 billion contract he wants, on a sign-and-trade basis. Prior to today, many within the Warriors believed that the team was going to trade for George.
And the Warriors have met the most critical link between the two sides, which is the issue of Kuminga's ownership. The Warriors are willing to go out of Kuminga, except for Curry and Dream Chasing, you can choose, and the key points between the two sides are perfectly solved, but the Clippers are still unwilling to trade, which also shows that they don't want to trade George to the Warriors at all, just to play the opponent. Kawakami revealed that the Warriors have offered a variety of options, with Wiggins + Kuminga + Looney + the chips the Clippers want the most in the future. A Wiggins + Paul + Kuminga or Moody + draft pick is also offered.
The Warriors offered the Clippers countless combinations, but without exception, the Clippers rejected them all. In order to get George, Dream Green and Curry were 100% involved throughout the process, and George himself strongly hinted that he wanted to join the Warriors. It can be said that George and the Warriors are interested in each other, Dream Green and Curry also contributed, and then the Warriors also fully satisfied the Clippers' asking price. But the Clippers just won't agree, and now George is a free agent, directly cutting off the possibility of the Warriors getting him.
Now Harden needs to think carefully about whether to stay with the Clippers, they are killing 1,000 and losing 2,000. It's clear that the Clippers are scared to get George's Warriors to be a direct competitor. I'd rather let George go for nothing than get the Warriors' chips. Even if the Clippers pay Alexander as a cornerstone in order to get George, plus 5 first-round picks + 2 first-round swap rights. The Clippers don't want anything, but also disgust George and the Warriors, what good is this behavior for the Clippers? If the Clippers promise the Warriors, they could bolster Wiggins and Kumingalooni and get a couple of first-round picks for the Warriors.
The Clippers can use these draft picks as leverage to package Tucker and Hyland to continue the reinforcement trade. Will the Clippers roster be bad in the new season? Harden, Wiggins, Leonard, Kuminga and Zubac, backup center Looney perfect. There is already a good starting suit before the reinforcements are introduced. What is the Clippers' only chance to save now? George became a free agent, and no team offered him a 4-year salary cap, and then George was forced to accept a 3-year, 150 million contract to return. But Philadelphia has freed up 60 million space, and they are ready to give George a 4-year maximum salary. Now that George is sent away for nothing, and the Clippers only have 20 million in reinforcement space, what changes can this bring? Perhaps what made the Clippers get their wish was that George went to the East, and that's it.