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Paul George Explains Decision To Leave Clippers

July 8th, 2024 at 10:03am CST by Arthur Hill

Paul George said in a his latest podcast (Twitter video link) that he “never wanted to leave L.A.,” but he was frustrated by negotiations with the Clippers, including an initial offer that he viewed as “kinda disrespectful.”

Wearing his new Sixers jersey, George explained that his preference was to re-sign with the Clippers and try to help them win their first-ever title. He emphasized that there are “no hard feelings” toward the organization, but said the first offer he received when contract talks started in October was $60MM over two years, which he called “crazy.”

“As we kept going, they would go up inches, inches, inches, to where it was like 44, 45,” George said, “but this was like a couple months in between before we got it to 40-something. I’m still like, ‘Nah, I’m not doing that. Then I hear wind of what they’re going to give Kawhi (Leonard). So I’m like ‘Just give me what Kawhi got. Y’all view us the same. We came here together. … I’ll take what Kawhi got.’ I was cool with that.”

George noted that Leonard accepted less than the max when he agreed to a three-year, $152.4MM extension in January, adding that he was willing to do the same to keep the core of the team together. George’s negotiations remained unproductive until he halted talks around the All-Star break because he didn’t want the new contract to be a distraction for the rest of the season.

“Season ends, I finish healthy, 74 games played and had one of my most efficient seasons,” George said. “So now we go into negotiations, now they bring it to three years, $150MM. It sucks that we had to get to this point, that we couldn’t get this figured out a lot sooner. I’m like all right, now we’re in the ballpark. Now we can have a conversation here.”

George said he was willing to accept that offer as long as the Clippers included a no-trade clause to make sure he got to stay in Southern California. When the team refused, he increased his asking price to four years at $212MM.

“If y’all going to trade me, y’all going to trade me,” he said. “But at least now I’m not in a situation where I could have got more had I just gone to free agency than take this deal and y’all can just ship me wherever (you) want. Now I’m on this deal that I didn’t want. They didn’t want to do that.”

George said that’s when he became open to exploring offers from other teams. That led him to schedule free agency meetings with the Sixers and Magic and ultimately accept a four-year max offer from Philadelphia.

“Through negotiations, they weren’t budging, they weren’t going to budge,” George said of Clippers management. “I wasn’t going to budge. I thought I played well enough for them to, you know, be like ‘He’s a part of our future.’ I thought I did that. I thought I earned that. Granted we didn’t win while I was there, but luck has a lot to do with that. We couldn’t remain healthy as a unit. But I thought I did enough to earn that. 

“… I love (Clippers owner Steve Ballmer). I love (team president Lawrence Frank), but at that point it didn’t even feel right to come back with that type of energy and be comfortable playing back in L.A.”

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Leonard, Haliburton, Embiid Expected To Be Ready For Team USA

June 27th, 2024 at 11:54am CST by Arthur Hill

Head coach Steve Kerr expects a fully healthy roster when Team USA begins training for the Olympics next week in Las Vegas, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. That means Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton and Sixers center Joel Embiid, who were all sidelined with injuries late in the season or during the playoffs, are likely to participate.

Right knee inflammation prevented Leonard from playing in the final eight games of the regular season and limited him to two playoff games as L.A. lost to Dallas in the first round. Kerr cautioned that there could still be a late surprise, but staff members have been in frequent contact with Leonard and they expect him to be ready for camp. Sources tell Vardon that there’s no new structural damage to Leonard’s knee, and the inflammation is the result of previous surgeries.

Haliburton suffered a strained left hamstring in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals and wasn’t able to return as Indiana was swept by Boston. He was concerned about his availability for the Olympics when the injury occurred, but Vardon states that the Pacers training staff always believed he would be ready in time.

Embiid missed more than two months after meniscus surgery on his left knee in late January. He was back in time for the playoffs, but appeared to be affected by the knee during the first-round series with New York. He also experienced a mild case of Bell’s palsy, which causes weakness or paralysis in the facial muscles.

Training camp for team USA will open July 6, followed by an exhibition game against Canada four days later in Las Vegas. The team will travel to Abu Dhabi and London for more exhibition contests before heading to Paris.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to see limited action when Greece takes on the Bahamas this afternoon, tweets Harris Stavrou of SPORT24. A left calf strain forced Antetokounmpo to miss all of Milwaukee’s first-round series with Indiana. Greece has to advance through an Olympic qualifying tournament next week to earn a spot in the Summer Games.

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And-Ones: White, Leonard, Embiid, Haliburton, 2024 Free Agency, More

June 15th, 2024 at 11:25am CST by Tristan Tucker

Derrick White is a real contender to replace Kawhi Leonard on Team USA for this year’s Paris Olympics if Leonard is unable to suit up, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter video link via Clutch Points’ Tomer Azarly).

White’s emerged as one of the league’s best defensive players over the past few seasons and he’s been a large part of Boston’s championship aspirations. This season, White averaged 15.2 points, 5.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.0 steal per game in the regular season while being named to the All-Defensive Second Team. Through 18 playoff games, White is averaging 16.9 PPG.

Leonard was named to the 12-man Olympic roster but battled through knee inflammation toward the end of this season, which kept him out of the Clippers’ final three playoff games. When healthy, Leonard averaged 23.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in 68 games for the Clippers this season.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Sixers superstar center Joel Embiid was hobbled through the playoffs and missed more than half the regular season but he’s still on track to suit up for Team USA starting next month, according to ESPN. “I’m doing great. Just getting ready for the Olympics,” Embiid said on ABC on Friday night. “It’s going to be big for me because I’ve been dreaming about it since I was a kid.” Embiid chose to play for the United States over France and Cameroon.
  • Like Embiid, Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton expects to be healthy by the time he suits up for the U.S., according to IndyStar’s Dustin Dopirak. “The hamstring is good,” Haliburton said. “… Today I ran for the first time full speed. I got another three weeks before USA. I feel good. I’m really excited to get out there and do that.” Haliburton missed 10 games in January with his hamstring injury, then re-injured it during the Eastern Conference finals.
  • The NBA offseason has begun for 28 teams, and with no more than three games left in the season, we’re starting to have a clearer idea of what decisions teams will be making this summer. Bobby Marks of ESPN (ESPN+ link) breaks down some of these key decisions and potential contract details in a 2024 free agency/offseason primer. Some of the most important decisions impacting the course of the offseason include what the Hawks do at No. 1 overall in the draft, whether or not Donovan Mitchell extends with the Cavaliers and what LeBron James‘ next contract looks like.
  • Several teams are flush with cap space this offseason, including the Sixers — a team with two stars under contract that now has ample spending power. In an article predicting the biggest moves of the 2024 offseason, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report speculates that Philadelphia winds up signing Paul George to a max contract. In addition, Pincus predicts Klay Thompson, Malik Monk and Tobias Harris head to Orlando and Isaiah Hartenstein signs with Oklahoma City.
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2023/24 All-NBA Teams Announced

May 22nd, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The All-NBA teams have been announced for the 2023/24 season (Twitter link).

A total of 99 media members voted on the honors, with players receiving five points for a First Team vote, three points for a Second Team vote and one point for a Third Team vote. This year’s All-NBA teams are as follows:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic were the only two unanimous First Team selections, receiving 99 of 99 possible votes. Doncic earned 98 First Team votes but was named to the Second Team on one ballot. Antetokounmpo (88), Tatum (65), Brunson (37), Edwards (3), and Durant (2) were the only other players to receive multiple First Team votes.

Others receiving votes and their point totals are the Celtics‘ Jaylen Brown (50), the Clippers‘ Paul George (16), the Sixers‘ Tyrese Maxey (16), the Timberwolves‘ Rudy Gobert (12), the Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama (11), the Pelicans‘ Zion Williamson (11), the Magic’s Paolo Banchero (10), the Kings‘ De’Aaron Fox (9) the Heat’s Bam Adebayo (7) and the Bulls‘ DeMar DeRozan (1).

This is the first season that a minimum number of games was required to qualify for most postseason awards under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Among the stars who might have received All-NBA consideration if they had reached the 65-game threshold are Sixers center Joel Embiid, who was the 2023 MVP, along with Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, Knicks forward Julius Randle and Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis.

This was also the first season that voting for the All-NBA team was positionless, though that didn’t have a huge impact on the results, as the top two teams still feature two guards, a pair of forwards, and a center. The Third Team is made up a center, three guards, and just one forward.

Wembanyama, who received two votes for the Second Team and five for the Third Team, was the only rookie named on any of the ballots. Earlier this week, he became the first rookie to earn a spot on an All-Defensive First Team.

The Lakers with Davis and James and the Suns with Durant and Booker were the only teams to have multiple players honored. They were both eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Several players became eligible for salary increases or earned a bonus by achieving All-NBA honors. Read more here.

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Clippers Notes: Future Skepticism, Westbrook, Lue, Championship Window

May 7th, 2024 at 10:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers will play in a new arena next season but they’ll have to hope their current core group can produce a better playoff run, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes.

Team president Lawrence Frank declared on Monday that he’ll try to re-sign Paul George, who can opt out of his contract, and James Harden, who will be an unrestricted free agent.

Kawhi Leonard, who signed a three-year extension, only appeared in two games during the first round due to injury. Despite the age of the team, Frank said it’s not far-fetched to believe they’ll have better health during the next postseason.

“I understand the skepticism of, ‘Hey, this is another year where you haven’t had the group [whole],'” he said.“But I would guard against the cynicism. Just because it’s happened [four straight seasons] doesn’t mean it’s always going to happen next year.”

They will have to cling to that hope because they don’t have much choice except to run it back with Leonard, George and Harden, Youngmisuk adds.

We have more on the Clippers:

  • Russell Westbrook has a $4MM player option to ponder and stated in an Instagram post that he was just fine with being a key reserve for the team. “I, for one, enjoyed my year, and worked hard to bring the energy and provide a spark for each opportunity I was given,” he wrote in part, adding, “I hope to come back better, stronger, and remain eager to take on any role that continues to put us in the best position to win next season!”
  • The Clippers can’t afford to offer Westbrook significantly more if he opts out but Frank said the players would hate to lose him, Mark Medina of Sportskeeda.com relays. “Guys in the locker room love Russ,” Frank said. “Got a lot of respect for Russ, what he’s done for his career and what he’s done for the Clippers. He’s one of the game’s great players.”
  • The front office has, by all indications, prioritized an extension agreement with head coach Tyronn Lue, according to Medina. Lue has one year left on his deal. “He has a great way of connecting while still holding guys accountable,” Frank said. “He’s a truth teller without leaving scars or wounds. He’s an unbelievable strategist who makes terrific in-game adjustments. And he has a growth mindset in that he’s always looking to get better. So our hope is that Ty is here for a long time. We love Ty.”
  • The championship window for this group has closed, Law Murray of The Athletic opines. The conference is too strong and dotted with younger stars leading teams such as Oklahoma City and Minnesota, Murray notes. He adds that the past three years have proven that the team cannot seriously contend with aging, injury-prone stars in Leonard and George. However, Frank disagreed. “We are still big believers that the window is still open,” Frank said, as Murray relays. “But also acknowledge the fact that we can understand the skepticism with it, and there are no guarantees either way.”
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Frank: Clippers Will Look To Keep Core Group Intact

May 6th, 2024 at 10:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers are hopeful of bringing back their core group despite the team’s first-round loss to Dallas, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank told assembled media during a Monday press conference.

Kawhi Leonard has already signed a three-year extension but the team’s three other big stars could all depart. Paul George has a $48.8MM player option on his contract for next season, while James Harden will be an unrestricted free agent. Russell Westbrook holds a $4MM option on his 2024/25 contract.

The Clippers and George chose to defer extension talks around the All-Star break, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

“We’d like to be able to bring back and retain Paul and James,” Frank said. “We’re hopeful we can, but also understand and respect the fact that they’re free agents. Paul has a decision with his option. James will be an unrestricted free agent, so our intent is to bring him back, but also realize that they’re elite players and they’ll have choices.”

The Sixers and Magic are expected to pursue George if he opts out, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes.

George is eligible to sign up to a four-year, $221MM extension, though it’s reasonable to assume the Clippers are pursuing a lesser amount, considering that they failed to reach an agreement during the season. Shams Charania of The Athletic confirmed on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link) on Monday that L.A. has offered George less than his full max.

“We want Paul, we value Paul,” Frank said. “Paul’s done some tremendous things here. He’s an elite player, and our biggest thing is we always want to be able to treat players well and pay them fairly, and we also have to build out a team, especially, this is a new CBA. But in terms of the exact money, I would never go into details other than we’ve had really, really good conversations over the course of the year and hopeful that we can get him to remain a Clipper.”

Harden said right after the series that he “hadn’t even thought” about his free agency.

As for Westbrook, Frank said he’d hold discussions with the former MVP regarding his role next season, if he decides to opt in. Westbrook was the team’s sixth man for a majority of the season.

“I’ll sit down with Russ. (Tyronn Lue) will sit down with Russ, talk with his representatives and you kind of outline what the role is going forward,” Frank said, per Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “It’s very similar to when Russ came last summer. Like, we explained to him exactly what his role is, what it could be, the different guys that we’re looking at and then Russ has a decision to make. And so we’re kind of going through the process. So, I’m not going to speak for any player in terms of what they’re thinking, but that’s our process.”

Frank said he’ll also pursue extensions with center Ivica Zubac and wing Terance Mann, per Carr, then look to make marginal improvements if he’s able to retain his stars.

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Clippers Notes: George, Harden, Westbrook, Lue, Tucker, More

May 4th, 2024 at 8:16am CST by Tristan Tucker

Even after a disappointing exit in the first round of the playoffs, the Clippers are expected to make a strong push to bring back both Paul George (player option) and James Harden (unrestricted free agent) this offseason, Sam Amick and Law Murray of The Athletic write. Despite failing to advance past the first round since 2021, team owner Steve Ballmer still has faith in this core.

The Clippers’ poor injury luck during the Kawhi Leonard era prevented them from seeing this roster at full strength for long, but they did win 26 of 31 games from December to February at full health. That, according to The Athletic, is seemingly a big reason behind L.A.’s eagerness to run it back. Even though Ballmer wants to keep things going with this core as the Clips on their new home floor in Intuit Dome next season, the nuanced contract negotiations with George, Harden, coach Tyronn Lue and Russell Westbrook may complicate things, Amick and Murray write.

George has been eligible for an extension all season, and while negotiations have been extensive, the lack of a deal leaves the possibility open for the nine-time All-Star to depart for a cap-space team like Philadelphia or Orlando. Though George holds a player option worth $48.7MM, he’s widely expected to decline it and become an unrestricted free agent if no extension is reached. Los Angeles wants George to accept a deal similar in structure to what Leonard agreed on, which saved L.A. approximately $9.9MM. A non-max deal would help the team financially going forward as it surely crosses the restrictive second tax apron by bringing back George and Harden.

Harden wants to continue with the Clippers and he’s happy to be with the team, but it could get tricky to keep him if he seeks a max contract. Meanwhile, Westbrook accepted a reserve role in L.A. and while he found success in the regular season, he may look for an opportunity to start elsewhere.

As for Lue, while Clippers’ officials praise the work the veteran coach has done, there have been no discussions about an extension, according to Amick and Murray. Friday reports indicated the Clips plan to pursue an extension with Lue, but those conversations have not yet taken place. According to The Athletic, the Clippers know they can’t improve on Lue and expect him to be the coach next season, likely blocking other teams from trying to talk to him. For his part, Lue expressed an interest in making a long-term commitment to the Clippers during his series-ending media availability (Twitter link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype).

“I didn’t come here to bounce around and go all over the place,” Lue said. “Mr. Ballmer, Lawrence [Frank], Mark [Hughes], and Trent [Redden] have all been great to me. This is where I want to be. Hopefully, they feel the same way.”

We have more from the Clippers:

  • Forward P.J. Tucker is expected to exercise his $11.5MM player option for next season, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. This comes as no surprise, as Tucker averaged career lows in minutes and points this season. Tucker was frustrated with his role this season and Los Angeles sent him home at one point. Scotto’s piece lines up with the reporting from The Athletic regarding the futures of George, Harden, Lue and Westbrook. In addition to writing about those four, Scotto speculates on what president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank‘s future with the organization looks like.
  • Including George, the Clippers have eight players eligible to sign extensions this offseason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks writes in his 2024 offseason guide. Role players Norman Powell, Terance Mann and Ivica Zubac are among the extension-eligible players. Mann, an unrestricted free agent in 2025, is eligible to sign a four-year extension worth $78.7MM.
  • Leonard missed games in the playoffs for the Clippers for the fourth straight season, but according to his teammates, he tried to play more in this series. “[Kawhi] wanted to be out there, wanted to be with us… it was more staff keeping him back,” George said, per The Orange County Register’s Mirjam Swanson (Twitter link). Leonard appeared in two postseason games this year, averaging 12.0 points per contest.
  • George didn’t speak much on his upcoming free agency after the Game 6 loss, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “Yeah,” George said on if he sees himself with the Clippers long term. “If it works that way, absolutely. … I’m not even focused on that yet. I got a lot to kind of digest myself, so I haven’t even got to that yet. Look forward to kind of going back, just letting everything kind of decompress, talk to my family, be around family support and then address the next step. … Yeah, it’s just not where I’m there. I’m not there yet.“
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Woj: Clippers Want To Retain Lue, George, Harden

May 3rd, 2024 at 3:55pm CST by Rory Maher

After Darvin Ham was fired this afternoon, a report from The Athletic indicated the Lakers would be interested in Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue if he were made available.

Appearing on NBA Today with Malika Andrews (Twitter video link), ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski downplayed the possibility of Lue becoming the Lakers’ coach, suggesting he could remain with Los Angeles’ other team for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t believe it’s realistic based on this: Ty Lue still has a year left on his contract,” Wojnarowski said (hat tip to RealGM). “And the Clippers are determined to do a long-term deal with Ty Lue, I’m told. They want him to be their head coach for a very long time. That’s a conversation that will happen after the playoffs are over, but they love the job he did this season. They love the job that he’s done there.

“This is an organization that, by all indications, however this series (with Dallas) ends up, wants to re-sign Paul George, James Harden. Try to improve that roster around those two and Kawhi Leonard. And Ty Lue will still be the head coach for them.”

Wojnarowski’s full story regarding Lue, George and Harden can be found right here.

The Lakers tried to hire Lue back in 2019, Wojnarowski noted, but the two sides couldn’t come to terms on a contract. At the time, it was reported that Lue was seeking a larger salary.

Wojnarowski also reiterated a point he previously made, that the Lakers might not go after the biggest available names, such as Mike Budenholzer, for financial reasons.

“You may see other candidates who’ve had success as head coaches, a Kenny Atkinson, a James Borrego, coaches of that ilk certainly could be part of this conversation,” Wojnarowski concluded.

Warriors assistant Atkinson, formerly lead coach of the Nets, was another Lakers candidate recently mentioned by The Athletic. Borrego, Charlotte’s former head coach, is a new name to watch. He’s currently an assistant with the Pelicans.

According to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha (Twitter link), Celtics assistant Charles Lee is a candidate for the Lakers’ coaching vacancy as well.

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Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard Out For Game 6 On Friday

May 2nd, 2024 at 4:54pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Clippers All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard has already been ruled out for L.A.’s must-win Game 6 contest against the Mavericks on Friday, the team has announced.

The 6’7″ swingman is dealing with right knee inflammation that has limited him to just two games this series. Injuries have now waylaid him for four straight postseasons, if one counts the 2022 play-in tournament during which he was still rehabilitating from a right knee ACL tear he suffered during the 2021 playoffs.

During his two healthy contests against the Mavericks, Leonard lacked a lot of his normal two-way mobility. He averaged just 12.0 PPG on 45.8% shooting from the floor and 66.7% shooting from the charity stripe, along with 8.0 RPG, 2.0 APG and 2.0 SPG.

The two-time Defensive Player of the Year enjoyed his healthiest regular season in years in 2023/24, but Leonard’s good injury fortune appears to have run out during these playoffs. L.A. inked him to a three-year, $149.7MM contract extension midway through the season, but has yet to come to terms with its other injury-prone All-Star forward, Paul George.

L.A. indicated that starting shooting guard Terance Mann is considered questionable to play with a right lower leg contusion.

According to the NBA’s most recent injury report, 3-and-D Dallas wing Tim Hardaway Jr. will be unavailable with a right ankle sprain.

The Mavericks lead the Clippers 3-2 in their No. 4 vs. 5 Western Conference series matchup. The action is returning to Dallas on Friday night.

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Clippers Notes: Harden, Game 5 Loss, Leonard, Coffey

May 2nd, 2024 at 3:23pm CST by Rory Maher

Clippers guard James Harden drew praise for his strong play in the first four games of the team’s first-round series with Dallas.

However, in Wednesday’s 30-point home loss, the 34-year-old turned in the latest in a lengthy history of dreadful playoff performances, going 2-of-12 from the field and scoring just seven points in 33 minutes, per Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. Harden did not speak to the media after the game, notes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.

As Hernandez writes, Harden wasn’t the only Clipper who played poorly, with Paul George (15 points on 4-of-13 shooting) and Russell Westbrook (six points on 2-of-11 shooting) struggling as well. But L.A. obviously needs more from Harden, who will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, if it hopes to advance.

According to Ben Golliver of The Washington Post (Twitter link), Harden now has 13 playoff games shooting 20% or worse on 10-plus shot attempts, which is the most in NBA history since the league implemented the three-pointer in 1979/80. Westbrook is third on the list with nine.

The Clippers now trail the series 3-2 and are facing a potential elimination game in Dallas on Friday.

Here’s more on the Clippers:

  • Prior to Wednesday’s Game 5, head coach Tyronn Lue said the Clippers were still uncertain about when Kawhi Leonard might be able to return to action, tweets Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints. “We’re not sure when he’s coming back,” Lue said. “It’s a day-to-day thing. When he’s feeling good and medical says he’s cleared to go, then that’s when we’ll go. Right now, we’re just focused on tonight.” Leonard, who has been battling right knee inflammation and clearly wasn’t 100% in his two postseason appearances, appears unlikely to be ready for Game 6, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link via FanDuelTV’s Run It Back show).
  • Despite the disappointing effort in Game 5, Lue noted the Clips have a recent history of winning on the Mavs’ home floor in the playoffs, including Game 4, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “We’ve shown that past two playoff series,” Lue said of being able to win in Dallas. “We were down 3-2 [in 2021]. We didn’t play our best game and we understand that. I think we all understand that collectively. So we’ll be better for Game 6.”
  • While the Clippers are certainly capable of winning two straight games to advance to the second round, the Mavericks have played with much more urgency to this point in the series and look hungry to advance, according to Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group. That doesn’t bode well for L.A.’s chances in Game 6 in Dallas, says Swanson.
  • He hasn’t posted impressive numbers in the series, but Lue said wing Amir Coffey has gained confidence starting in place of Leonard, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. “He’s always been able to attack in transition. He can make a shot,” Lue said. “… He can defend. He can defend multiple positions. So, just his confidence, I think his growth, understanding the NBA game, understanding what we need from him on a nightly basis, and he’s grown, and he’s gotten better and better. So, it’s just good to see that he could finally be in the rotation and get consistent minutes too.”
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