George's next home is finally decided.
Nearly 12 hours after the free market opened, at 3 o'clock in the middle of the night EST, Paul George finally negotiated the next contract, and without much surprise, the 76ers signed George with a four-year, 212 million maximum salary.
The 76ers and George have been interested in each other for a long time, during the Finals, Embiid even "openly recruited" George on the show, this meeting, the 76ers are also full of sincerity, the owner, general manager, legendary star Julius is on the battlefield, not only sent the maximum salary, but also brought the player option in the last year.
George's situation we have analyzed before, he was still an All-Star in the regular season last season, playing in a total of 74 games, averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, shooting 47.1%/41.3%/90.7% from three, and 61.3% true shooting rate.
However, George played abnormally in the playoffs, averaging only 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game in 6 games, with a three-point shooting rate of 41.1%/36.7%/84.0%, and a true shooting rate of 55.2%, and the Clippers also lost to the Mavericks in the first round.
The Clippers are out of the game not George's problem alone, in fact, Leonard's injury is the biggest reason, but George's shortcomings are really on display in this round of the series, his consistency is too poor, he can be 30+ in a single game, he can also score 7 points in a single game, and the last two games add up to 10 of 31, only 33 points.
Of course, George is still an all-star forward with excellent offensive and defensive performance, and he has a very good ability to play without the ball, this kind of player joining any team is a great addition, if it is the peak age, I am afraid that half of the 30 teams are willing to give the maximum salary;
The problem is that George is 34 years old, and he may only be able to maintain an All-Star level for 1-2 years, which means that the premium for the last 2 years of this contract is very risky, and the 37-year-old George will still hold close to 60 million a year.
However, the situation of the 76ers is a little different.
The team has made the playoffs in the last seven seasons, including five semifinals, but none of them touched the floor of the Eastern Conference finals, so the 76ers are in desperate need of results, so they collected a lot of expiring contracts last season in order to make a big splash this summer.
Judging from the results, the 76ers did get the free agent who is most likely to leave the team and the biggest name this summer, as for George's possibility of a premium in the last two years, it is certainly impossible to say that he is not worried, but the 76ers value the next two seasons more than worrying about the next two years.
It needs to be said that the 76ers' operations this summer are not only George, counting George, the 76ers have had five operations since the free market opened, and the other four are:
1. Signed Drummond with a contract of more than 10 million in 2 years
Drummond played for the Bulls last season, averaging 8.4 points and 9.0 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game, and his effect on the court was sometimes better than Vucevic, and Drummond also played briefly with the 76ers, so it can be said that it is worth it to find a backup center for Embiid with such a contract.
2. Signed Eric Gordon with a salary at the end of 1 year
Gordon played for the Suns last season, averaging 11.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, shooting 44.3% from the field, 37.8% from three-point range, and 58.0% from the field.
3. 2 years and 16.3 million renewal of Oubre
Oubre was cold in the free market last year and could only sign a base salary, but with this base salary, Oubre successfully regained his value, averaging 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game last season, and in the playoffs, he averaged 13.2 points per game and a true shooting rate of 57.4%, and signed the 28-year-old team's No. 4 scoring point at the peak of his peak for 16.3 million in two years, which is also a good operation.
4. 204 million renewal of Maxi for 5 years
There is nothing to say about this operation, it is an absolute thing to do, and it needs to be said that because Maxey missed the All-Star team last season and failed to trigger the super cap salary, the 76ers were left with $40 million, which to some extent also alleviated the salary problems that may be encountered in the next five years.
According to statistics, with these four operations plus George, the 76ers have given a total of 442.3 million contracts this summer, and this is not the end of the road, and they will have to consider whether to renew Hield and others, as well as continue to find reliable players in the free market.
After checking the lineup, the current 76ers can be sure that the starters are Embiid, Maxey, Paul George, Oubre has a high probability of starting, and there are Eric Gordon, Paul Reed, and Drummond on the bench.