Philadelphia 76ers explode as potential threat to sign Paul George following declined player option

Paul George is officially heading to free agency. The Los Angeles Clippers’ forward declined his $48.7 million player option and will now meet with teams that have enough cap space to sign him – including the Philadelphia 76ers.

BREAKING: Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George is declining his $48.7M option and entering free agency, sources tell ESPN. He’s planning to set meetings with cap space teams and the Clippers beginning Sunday night. An opt-in/trade scenario is now gone. pic.twitter.com/kASDp58eDD

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2024

The 76ers have always been expected to “aggressively” pursue George in free agency and pose a legitimate threat to lure him away from the Clippers given the $61.3 million in cap space available. 

Here are the cap space teams this summer. Looks like it’ll be one of these teams or a return to the LA Clippers for Paul George:

– Philadelphia 76ers
– Detroit Pistons
– Orlando Magic
– Utah Jazz
– Oklahoma City Thunder
– San Antonio Spurs

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 29, 2024

Did Paul George attempt to use Warriors for leverage?

Over a week ago, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the 76ers’ interest in Paul George has decreased, and they are now planning to use their cap space on other players. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, George’s preference to stay on the West Coast is the main reason for Philadelphia’s changing interest.

Before today’s 5:00 p.m. EST deadline, the Golden State Warriors were considering a sign-and-trade with Los Angeles for Paul George. However, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported that Golden State believed they were no longer in the running for the nine-time all-star.

Despite reports of Philadelphia’s lack of interest in Paul George, NBA insiders speculated otherwise. It’s possible that George’s stated desire to stay in the west was a strategy from his camp to maximize his earnings, which ultimately proved unsuccessful.

The #Sixers interest in pursuing Paul George “remains very real” — as the team wants to “keep their options open” if George returns to Los Angeles, per @TomerAzarly.

“Sources told ClutchPoints that Philadelphia’s interest in George remains very real, but they also want to keep… pic.twitter.com/ILm2ZVCW40

— Philly Sixers Galaxy (@sixers_galaxy) June 26, 2024

What would Paul George to 76ers look like?

Paul George opting out of his player option opens the door for the 76ers to sign him to a four-year deal worth over $200 million. Meanwhile, with Philadelphia declining guard Jeff Dowtin’s $2.2 million player option, it seems the front office is working to maximize their cap space, although their plans are still unclear.

Windhorst reported that Philadelphia’s free agency plans are on hold until George decides which team he’d like to sign with, and there will be league-wide deals as a result of George’s choice.

With the free agency moratorium period starting tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. EST, we’ll finally see how the Paul George situation unfolds.

Coming off an all-star appearance and a 2023-2024 campaign where he posted per-game averages of 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, on 61.3% true-shooting and 41.3% perimeter shooting, George would serve as a seamless fit next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey as well as a high-quality third scoring option.

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