At this point I don't really see how people think Harden cared about the money. With all the contracts he's turned down, all those "next bags" he said no to, and now even with LAC he didn't even *try* to negotiate a bigger deal - he opened his negotiations saying he'd take less than $30m a year annual over 3 years and then he settled on a 1+1.
There were plenty of reports that came out saying Harden was also willing to work out a good deal with Morey, but Morey going ghost ruined it.
Fact is dude has so much money coming in from his Adidas deal, from his wine sales, and all of his endeavors in China that the difference in his NBA contract really aint that big of a deal to him. Wouldn't surprise me if he signed a 1+1 in LAC to help them retool after this year, too.
Dude was just that angry. Nothing he's said since then seems to have indicated anything except that someone he trusted lied to him and expected him to take it and act like nothing happened. So he made a principled stand.
And he still has enough retirement money for himself and thousands of ducks or other small fauna.
Also until that morey is a liar comment harden had basically never said anything even mildly controversial in public. And idk if I had even ever heard him raise his voice or get angry in public. Which makes me think there’s a 99% chance morey straight up stabbed him in the back, he was like legit emotional. There’s no way he would talk like that if morey hadn’t screwed him over, he’s turned down multiple max extensions before, he wouldn’t be that pissed if they had never discussed it and then morey just didn’t want to max him when the time came.
Yeah think about it in regular people terms. If you had this friend that you had been working your ass off to support for like ten years because you thought you guys were like ride or die, you had always done anything he needed because you thought he’d always have your back, then he asked you for a favor and said he would be there for you for something you needed his help with, you do the favor without question, and then you hurt your hamstring so he ghosts you because you’re not quite as fun to hang out with anymore.
Morey legit worked harden like a rented mule for a decade, harden is like 90% of the reason morey is considered a good gm in the first place, like if your best player has to win the scoring title three years in a row, win or come in second/third in mvp 5 years in a six year stretch, with one season having to average 36 ppg, the most in 30 years while the second leading scorer is at 28 ppg, just to carry your team to 50+ wins you did not put together good teams.
Harden has turned down plenty of money for a better situation, even this year he could’ve definitely got more than 2/70. And if you read about moreys personal life he’s kind of a narcissistic douche.
Like how do you just ghost the guy that was always at or near the top in minutes played every season while playing like an mvp most years just so he could drag your shitty rosters to 50+ wins?
Not to mention it was after you brought him in to be the second option to the scoring leader and mvp and then he ends up having to hard carry your team again, being the only reason you have a chance up 3-2 by dropping two 40+ bombs on the most stacked roster in the league while the actual mvp was shitting the bed, and then he basically gets 95% of the blame for losing that series because he could only have 2 40+ point games instead of 3 on a bum hamstring.
Jokes on morey though, he let harden go and then they lose in the first round by a total point differential of 1, effectively wasting a year of embiids prime, and then he has to sign a worse player in a deal where he’ll be paying him 50 mil when he’s 48.
i see a lot of knicks flairs defending harden and seeing the bs narratives recently. its interesting
maybe brunson reminds? as in underapreciated player that gets a chance somewhere else and blows expectations away. good to see knicks are helping him asap
Haha it’s funny cuz there’s guys like harden who do it for money/everyone has one, but Melo is a big wine head and sources grapes from literally the most famous vineyard in Napa Valley.
Haha well I’ve worked in both industries and will say that art is much much looser in that sense like it literally is a free for all. Wine has guided rails that you can venture beyond, but to really grasp it a knowledge of those restrictions is essential. Like I know Melo’s wine will be at least a pretty damn good big Napa cab, hardens will probably be sweet and taste pretty disgusting and at most drinkable.
If you count the year he opted in, he got a 3Y/~107M from 2023 - 2025 in his new contract with a player option. With his new contract, he'll have made around ~$408m in career earning. And that's not even counting any of the money he's made from endorsements, any businesses he has, etc.
The reports were that Philly would offer Harden some sort of 1+1 with a team option. The plan for Morey was to always have cap space this year once they saw that the Harden/Embiid pairing had a ceiling. At least George plays a different way than Harden and is an offball threat and a better defender even though Harden is a much better playmaker.
Who had also carried your ass for like a decade while you worked him like a rented mule. If your best player has to win the scoring title three years in a row just to drag your rosters to 50+ wins you did not construct a good team. Harden is like 90% why morey is seen as a great gm because he was so good he made those Houston rosters actually look decent when most were pretty shitty.
I still feel like harden and embiid had a way higher ceiling. Harden can make any big look amazing and embiid was an mvp. Harden also basically unlocked maxey, even after his Philly exit maxey said he would never be the player he became if it wasn’t for harden. Embiid was just so used to playing more like a wing than a big. He let so many easy looks go to iso or try to get fouled.
embid is odd one cause he didnt run pnr. so really they didnt mesh as well as they could have. i mean it wasnt bad and when they did it was the best play in the nba statically. but it was way too little, joel is an offense to himself. he is the pg and center he needs 3 n D and defensive stars. he needs players that are more mature and good leaders to cover for him.
but your right about maxey. it was definitely priceless to have a mentor like that
Harden was a good fit he was just hurt when it mattered and didn’t play well injured. I like PG on paper but it feels like a swapping of the deck chairs.
He really hasn’t shown the ability to run a championship level offense at all. And he and harden had amazing chemistry. Having harden in the backcourt with maxey also would be a huge help with their backcourt size
Harden leaves because he feels slighted, PG insinuates he won’t go to sixers cuz of the leadership that slighted harden, and then PG just gets the biggest bag possible from leadership lmao. It’s beautiful. most players don’t care about hating Morey, they just want the bag.
There’s a reason PG was so desperate to sign a max this year, even with a gm who is likely to send him to like Detroit or something in two years, while harden didn’t care at all. PG is declining physically and he knows it, he’s already injury prone, and he’s not nearly as impactful as harden. If he loses a step he’s gonna look terrible
Harden has gotten more athletic every year since the hamstring and is at the very least a 6’5 all time great floor general that can make any offense look like a well oiled machine and is an all time great three point shooter. There’s always gonna be a market for that.
It was definitely personal more than financial.
I understand both sides. Harden left a LOT of money on the table for Morey by leaving the nets and taking the pay cut that first year.
He declined too much to be worth a full max plus the penalties of the new CBA made Morey decide to back out.
> He declined too much to be worth a full max plus the penalties of the new CBA made Morey decide to back out.
While I agree with that and Philly did the right thing by not giving Harden a max... they literally just handed an even larger 4 year max to a different declining player who is even older than Harden was at that time.
The situation is a little different as the Sixers are running out of time with Embiid, but still - the optics of Morey handing George that contract must drive Harden batshit insane.
If he had been straight up I genuinely think Harden would have at least been willing to try and work around it but he ghosted Harden instead, which... is thoroughly unsurprising in retrospect.
Morey isn't exactly a paragon of mature and open communication, dude is avoidant as fuck based off stuff we've seen like the CP3 to OKC situation. Seems like he says whatever he needs to say in the short term to avoid having hard conversations.
For sure. I think this might have been lost in my comment but I didn't mean most people would do what Morey did, but most people who get into the position he has gotten into would. You don't make your way to the top of a profession like that by being nice.
This is a very Morey-esque view of the situation lol. You would think that the whole 'Daryl Morey is a liar' episode would make it somewhat clear what drove Harden's decision.
It was entirely about Morey trying to go ghost on him, like he didn't want to man up and tell James "hey remember that thing I told you I'd get you... "
Gotta remember those 2 had constant communications for like a **decade.** It wasn't a normal player/GM relationship.. and then one day Morey just randomly stops replying for the first time since 2013 lol
PG was not worth the money. He wasn’t disrespected.
Harden was disrespected because he was promised something and then they pulled the rug from under him.
Not at all the same situation.
If they'd just paid Harden at the time then waited for Tobias Harris's contract to expire + the cap spike, they would have an even better roster than they do now
Not necessarily. I think giving maxey the room to develop as a lead guard was the right call. Using harden off ball as a max player would be a waste of his talent and money.
Yeah, but if Harden’s narrative is true he was actually disrespected and lied to. PG is just being a hypersensitive petty bitch.
“They think I’ll stay because my family is here. Well fuck them I’m out” is some seriously petty shit.
They were betting that he wanted to stay in California. And I think they were probably right. What they were wrong about was that he wanted to stay badly enough to take one less year on his contract. I think his priorities were:
1. Getting the four year max
2. Staying in California (if possible), and
3. Staying on the Clippers (if possible).
I think he would have liked to have stayed on the Clippers and in California if he could have got the contract he wanted. Or if not from the Clippers, then from the Warriors. But he wasn't able to. And so he left to the Sixers.
I think what a lot of people don't realize as well is, yes PG has made a lot of money in his career. But this new 4-year deal is equivalent to roughly 2/3 of his total current career earnings ($305MM he's made since 2010 compared to $212MM he'll make between now and 2028). That's just a testament to how crazy cap inflation is.
People are arguing that pushing for the extra year makes him greedy, considering he's already rich. But it's a weird argument imo. Very few max-level players take team-friendly deals / paycuts. Especially when they're arguably the most noteworthy FA on the market.
I completely understand why he took that contract. I'm not mad at him at all. He needs to look out for himself and his family.
NBA teams trade key players all the time. OKC did that with Harden, The Clippers did that with Blake, Celtics did that with Smart, Kings did that with Halliburton, Raptors did that DeRozan, etc.
This is a great way to put it. Lets say in our day to day jobs we are given an option to move across the country to make effectively 60% of what we've made in our entire lives, and to do the same exact thing we've been doing. I would accept that ish in a heartbeat. Just because someone has a lot of money doesn't mean they won't strive to get as much as they think they're worth
I think it's hard for most people to imagine leaving their current job and uprooting their family to move across the country so they can make 210 million rather than 170 million or whatever. Like for most of us that's such a staggeringly ridiculous amount of money either way that it's like 'bro you really needed that extra 40 mil?'
Not saying you're wrong btw, I just think these salaries are so unbelievably high that it's hard for normal people to even think about
I think there's a pretty big tax difference between Pennsylvania and California too. Cursory google says about 13% income tax to approx 3% income tax. Pretty sure that only matters for home games but still works out to an additional $10m over the life of the contract if I'm doing the math right.
An extra $50m does sound pretty appealing when you package it up like that lol
Right? The clippers went for a pure business approach and PG responded by doing the same.
Why is he obligated to give them a discount when they're already basically challenging him to leave?
> Why is he obligated to give them a discount when they're already basically challenging him to leave?
He's not, literally nobody suggested they felt he should feel any sort of obligation to stay with the Clippers if he didn't like their offer. What are you talking about?
They really thought he and his family would give up 50 million dollars to be able to watch him easier in person? For that money, he could fly them to Philly on a private plane for every game. Or buy them all new houses in his new city.
More like "Paul George has talked a lot over the years about what a privilege it is to have his parents live nearby and be courtside at games, that will probably factor into his decision"
It's hilarious to me that owners are all business when it comes player contracts, thinking he wouldn't leave because of family and then offering him less, but then they get completely blindsided when players have a "just-business" mentally right back to them.
You can't act like a scum bag and then expect him to give you a family discount or whatever. The clips are justified in offering less and PG is justified in taking more money and walking to go to a team where he has basically the same odds to win a title with.
PG has proven that he's more than willing to help out teams that are good to him(see: OKC now).
> It's hilarious to me that owners are all business when it comes player contracts, thinking he wouldn't leave because of family and then offering him less, but then they get completely blindsided when players have a "just-business" mentally right back to them.
Where is the report that LAC was "completely blindsided" by his decision to take the bag and leave?
Becuase it feels like you are just making that part up.
People are reading so much into "the Clippers didn't want to lock Paul George in for four years, and thought the benefit of being near family would be a positive in their favor" lmao
thinking the way these dudes do must be *exhausting*
A source close to my eyeballs that are attached to my brain that watched this dude all season tells me that he isn't worth $50m to $60m a year now let alone over the next 4 years, and with the new rules it just wasn't worth it for the Clippers to not be able to have any depth just to watch this guy barely break 1.0 points per possession on the iso possessions he always insisted on running over taking the open 3 that was created for him, all while refusing to guard up on the other teams best players and never fight for a rebound, play with physicality, get himself into foul trouble when he doesn't feel like trying, etc. mfer just played like he was trying to not get hurt out there.
The Clippers will probably have their season end in the exact same spot this year - they'll make the playoffs, probably lose in the first round, but they won't be committed to an old ass PG making way too much money.
Hearing how PG sounds in interviews/post game / his podcast over the years…can’t convince me that he genuinely cares about anything other than the bag at the end of the day. Which isn’t a bad thing. That’s most these guys.
Any Clipper fan that watched the playoffs saw Zubac outplay him. That says a lot.
Kawhi, Harden, Zubac, are all more important than him.
Harden for 35 mil vs PG for 50 mil? It's not even a question which I'd rather take
PG been coasting off his name for a minute. Don't get me wrong, he's a good player, but the Sixers are going to feel dumb as shit in year 3 once it's clear they aren't actually getting over the hump, and their cap sheet is fucked sideways
Contracts that might age poorly are the new reality of the NBA. If they didn’t use that cap it would have disappeared. What was the better move for them if not signing PG to be their hopefully third best player ?
Weird delusional coping here on reddit. The max for PG is a slam dunk deal for Philly. That there are legitimate reasons for Clippers not to go for that deal doesn't invalidate that.
That being said, the Clippers statement about the 2nd apron was kinda horse shit lol. They were willing to give him 3 years. Which together with Kawhi and Harden puts them over the 2nd apron for 24/25 and 25/26. In the 4th year their cap sheet is very clean, they could be out of the 2nd apron easily. Not saying they should have offered the 4th year, but offering 3 instead of 4 is not because of the apron
Nah, they won’t feel dumb because they had use it or lose it money. Who else would they have gotten? KCP and Hartenstein? That’s not doing anything for them.
But yes, PG been coasting on reputation in a lot of ways. He’s not some 2 way stud anymore. He’s a great floor spacer, shoots the hell out of the ball, and he can create his own jumpers. But his defense is nowhere near as good, he doesn’t get to the hoop, and he doesn’t do any of the little things anymore.
bro his jumpshot is streaky as hell, he was guaranteed to shoot tour dates in 5 out of every 7-8 games he played for the clippers and his dribbles create negative spacing. and none of this is a new thing, take almost any of his playoff series since he switched to the thunder and you'll see the same pattern. and don't even get me started on his defense or hustle, bro is happy ball watching half the time
pg is the epitome of an unserious, do it for the gram player if I've ever seen one
He wasn't even the 2nd best player on the team that series. He wants to be paid like a superstar but play like a role player. He is literally rich man's Tobias Harris, he's gonna fit right in with Philly and the fans will love him.
Paying him the max would have put the Clippers in 2nd apron territory which every team in the league is trying to avoid. All while PG is complaining that he doesn't want to do the "dirty work" like rebounding cuz that should be someone else
I didn't think it was the amount that was the problem, just the contract length. I thought they offered him the max (or close to it), just not the 4th year?
This is weird phrasing. They wouldn't ever be in a situation to "force" him to do anything. Maybe he can feel disrespected that their offer was less than he could get elsewhere, but LAC wasn't "forcing" him to do anything, or anything even close to that.
He’ll have just turned 38 by the time the contract is over. Not saying it’s a great deal and that last year or two he’s absolutely going to be overpaid, but still.
A source close to George believes that what the Clippers were getting at. I think in actuality it’s fair to think at this stage in your career you’d rather stay in your hometown/LA.
I don’t see L. Frank going “..but PG! What about your family sitting in row 3, seats 4-9, section 102 in the Intuit dome!”
His mom is disabled which makes physically going to games difficult enough, and they all were in LA. Traveling on a plane, finding accommodations, etc is much more difficult for her, then playing in LA.
PG has said multiple times that’s the best part about him playing here in LA.
But let’s meme because Wayoff P right?
Honestly it doesn't even seem like PR spin so much as "fans" like people on here running crazy with a pretty mild detail. Like, anyone reasonable knows it was not the only or most important factor (that's be the money and 4th year), but I wouldn't be surprised if the Clippers thought PG might be a little more willing to take a smaller offer to be near family (which happens), and PG didn't think that should be a factor.
I wonder how often the average close family member actually goes to games. There’s 41+ a year.
I imagine I would go a lot, but after a couple of years the novelty would wear off, and who knows.
Honestly in a vacuum if we look at it as Harden on a great contract for PG on a max + picks I think it’s win-win for both teams
Clippers got to add depth, youth and athleticism to their old ass roster to get them through the regular season and rest Kawhi
Sixers got to greatly increase their ceiling
Right now yes, but:
1. The Clippers got 1 year of Harden + Kawhi + PG and none of those guys are getting any better. That should be a title window opportunity, but Kawhi wasn't healthy so it's wasted.
2. The pick and swap the Clippers gave up in 28 and 29 could end up be REALLY REALLY good. Kawhi and Harden will probably be gone by then, and the Clippers don't seem like they'll have any opportunity to bring in young talent between now and then. Unless they find some gold in free agency those picks are soooooooo dangerous. Even if Embiid and PG are washed by then, that can be what you need to bring in a new star to play with Maxey.
[It looks it's top 3 protected](https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/76ers-trade-harden-tucker-to-clippers). Not quite as good, but still very dangerous. With the lottery odds as they are now there's a very good chance that conveys even if the Clippers have the worst record in the league. I wonder what happens if the pick does end up being protected. I haven't seen any specifics...
The Clippers have had 15 winning seasons in a row and their front office has shown they're able to turn limited assets into a lot (see: Chris Paul leaving and no assets or stars making the playoffs, pushing the peak Warriors to 6, and getting Kawhi/PG a year later), so odds are better those picks won't be all that great.
This like saying that you flipped a coin 15 times and they were all heads, so the next 5 times will definitely be heads as well. Maybe they will figure it out, but just because they have recently doesn't mean they always will. You need to be able to independently evaluate the situation as it is currently, which means looking at the dearth of long term assets alongside the recent success.
Watch how fast philly turns on pg ....just based on his attitude...dude blaming the clippers for using playing close to family against him for leverage....but the dude obviously values money, over being close to his family.....this is the same dude that cheated on doc rivers daugher with his current wife, who was a stripper he impregnanted, then sued him becaused he tried to deny the kid being his lol
Clippers and Warriors FO reaping their self-assured sewing this season. I get wanting to duck the 2nd apron in theory but the half-steps back they both made doesn’t make them (potentially) good enough to be interesting or bad enough to reset fully. Most likely scenario is a super expensive 7-9 seed with one generational talent
We actually made the right move not giving him the max contract he wanted.
In 2026 we will have a chance (although small) to get Luka. We have no draft picks, we are gonna desperately and aggressively purse free agents.
Also we finally get to move on from the failed 213 experiment.
I dont want to slander PG, but I'd rather not have him and turn our directions to the future then do this loop again.
The contract is different for the Sixers than it was for the Clippers.
If the Clippers offered it, it would have severe consequences due to the new CBA. For the Sixers, they know that the contract will likely age poorly. But they need to maximize the last of Embiid's prime and believe that PG (unlike Harden) is the player to do it. If he's not, then once the contract is over, Embiid's prime will probably be over. And they can just rebuild around Maxey. And unlike the Clippers, the Sixers aren't affected by the consequences of the new CBA.
There's a reason the Sixers were the only team to offer that contract to PG. It's not because the Clippers are dumbasses. It's because the Sixers are desperate.
The clippers did not want Paul George lol. And the idea that they are dumb for not signing 34 year old Paul George to a 4 year max contract is also ridiculous.
Thats what i am thinking. People be roasting the shit out of this dudes performances and his attitude but then turn around and say he should be paid 50million at the spry age of 38?
I’m a PG hater but it’s a good move for Philly. He’s 3rd option there and can bring the points when needed and he should age gracefully with his shooting skills
I wouldn’t say dumbasses. I just don’t think they believed he was worth all that.
Morey probably had a ton of plans; like loading up on depth ($49M can be split up into like 3+ impact pieces… KCP, DJJ, Naji, Miles Bridges, Melton, etc — some of those guys) if star hunting didn’t work out.
It is so weird that Harden and PG essentially switched places because they both felt disrespected by their organizations lmao
Except PG did end up getting his max deal.
And Harden would have probably gotten more from Philly than what he ended up taking with LA lol
At this point I don't really see how people think Harden cared about the money. With all the contracts he's turned down, all those "next bags" he said no to, and now even with LAC he didn't even *try* to negotiate a bigger deal - he opened his negotiations saying he'd take less than $30m a year annual over 3 years and then he settled on a 1+1. There were plenty of reports that came out saying Harden was also willing to work out a good deal with Morey, but Morey going ghost ruined it. Fact is dude has so much money coming in from his Adidas deal, from his wine sales, and all of his endeavors in China that the difference in his NBA contract really aint that big of a deal to him. Wouldn't surprise me if he signed a 1+1 in LAC to help them retool after this year, too.
Yeah it's less money and more the fact that his BFF snaked him
Dude was just that angry. Nothing he's said since then seems to have indicated anything except that someone he trusted lied to him and expected him to take it and act like nothing happened. So he made a principled stand. And he still has enough retirement money for himself and thousands of ducks or other small fauna.
Also until that morey is a liar comment harden had basically never said anything even mildly controversial in public. And idk if I had even ever heard him raise his voice or get angry in public. Which makes me think there’s a 99% chance morey straight up stabbed him in the back, he was like legit emotional. There’s no way he would talk like that if morey hadn’t screwed him over, he’s turned down multiple max extensions before, he wouldn’t be that pissed if they had never discussed it and then morey just didn’t want to max him when the time came.
Yeah think about it in regular people terms. If you had this friend that you had been working your ass off to support for like ten years because you thought you guys were like ride or die, you had always done anything he needed because you thought he’d always have your back, then he asked you for a favor and said he would be there for you for something you needed his help with, you do the favor without question, and then you hurt your hamstring so he ghosts you because you’re not quite as fun to hang out with anymore. Morey legit worked harden like a rented mule for a decade, harden is like 90% of the reason morey is considered a good gm in the first place, like if your best player has to win the scoring title three years in a row, win or come in second/third in mvp 5 years in a six year stretch, with one season having to average 36 ppg, the most in 30 years while the second leading scorer is at 28 ppg, just to carry your team to 50+ wins you did not put together good teams. Harden has turned down plenty of money for a better situation, even this year he could’ve definitely got more than 2/70. And if you read about moreys personal life he’s kind of a narcissistic douche. Like how do you just ghost the guy that was always at or near the top in minutes played every season while playing like an mvp most years just so he could drag your shitty rosters to 50+ wins? Not to mention it was after you brought him in to be the second option to the scoring leader and mvp and then he ends up having to hard carry your team again, being the only reason you have a chance up 3-2 by dropping two 40+ bombs on the most stacked roster in the league while the actual mvp was shitting the bed, and then he basically gets 95% of the blame for losing that series because he could only have 2 40+ point games instead of 3 on a bum hamstring. Jokes on morey though, he let harden go and then they lose in the first round by a total point differential of 1, effectively wasting a year of embiids prime, and then he has to sign a worse player in a deal where he’ll be paying him 50 mil when he’s 48.
i see a lot of knicks flairs defending harden and seeing the bs narratives recently. its interesting maybe brunson reminds? as in underapreciated player that gets a chance somewhere else and blows expectations away. good to see knicks are helping him asap
Don’t forget his ownership in Dynamo and his Houston businesses
The label maker company??!
I’m not sure if this is a joke or not lmao, but the label maker is Dymo, the Dynamo is the Houston MLS team
Hahaha I didn’t know he had a wine/laughing it’s a partnership with J-Shed. Funny to see which dudes make decent stuff/which go for bulk
It seems like every superstar starts their own wine brand, it must be a money machine. I know melo has one
Haha it’s funny cuz there’s guys like harden who do it for money/everyone has one, but Melo is a big wine head and sources grapes from literally the most famous vineyard in Napa Valley.
isnt wine like art tho. ultimately its just subjective minus like the obvious objective stuff like cant be rotten grapes etc.
Haha well I’ve worked in both industries and will say that art is much much looser in that sense like it literally is a free for all. Wine has guided rails that you can venture beyond, but to really grasp it a knowledge of those restrictions is essential. Like I know Melo’s wine will be at least a pretty damn good big Napa cab, hardens will probably be sweet and taste pretty disgusting and at most drinkable.
no point in having fuck you money if you never say fuck you
If you count the year he opted in, he got a 3Y/~107M from 2023 - 2025 in his new contract with a player option. With his new contract, he'll have made around ~$408m in career earning. And that's not even counting any of the money he's made from endorsements, any businesses he has, etc.
The reports were that Philly would offer Harden some sort of 1+1 with a team option. The plan for Morey was to always have cap space this year once they saw that the Harden/Embiid pairing had a ceiling. At least George plays a different way than Harden and is an offball threat and a better defender even though Harden is a much better playmaker.
A two year contract with a team option is disrespectful af lol to a guy who took a paycut for you
Who had also carried your ass for like a decade while you worked him like a rented mule. If your best player has to win the scoring title three years in a row just to drag your rosters to 50+ wins you did not construct a good team. Harden is like 90% why morey is seen as a great gm because he was so good he made those Houston rosters actually look decent when most were pretty shitty.
I still feel like harden and embiid had a way higher ceiling. Harden can make any big look amazing and embiid was an mvp. Harden also basically unlocked maxey, even after his Philly exit maxey said he would never be the player he became if it wasn’t for harden. Embiid was just so used to playing more like a wing than a big. He let so many easy looks go to iso or try to get fouled.
embid is odd one cause he didnt run pnr. so really they didnt mesh as well as they could have. i mean it wasnt bad and when they did it was the best play in the nba statically. but it was way too little, joel is an offense to himself. he is the pg and center he needs 3 n D and defensive stars. he needs players that are more mature and good leaders to cover for him. but your right about maxey. it was definitely priceless to have a mentor like that
Harden was a good fit he was just hurt when it mattered and didn’t play well injured. I like PG on paper but it feels like a swapping of the deck chairs.
Yeah, at least this way we can keep Maxey at the 1 — he’s really flourishing there
Maxey wasn't playing the 1 by the end of last year, not his natural role
Shhh….they’ll keep blaming Harden until Embiid and George hobble into the playoffs
I have never heard anyone blame Maxey
He really hasn’t shown the ability to run a championship level offense at all. And he and harden had amazing chemistry. Having harden in the backcourt with maxey also would be a huge help with their backcourt size
Harden leaves because he feels slighted, PG insinuates he won’t go to sixers cuz of the leadership that slighted harden, and then PG just gets the biggest bag possible from leadership lmao. It’s beautiful. most players don’t care about hating Morey, they just want the bag.
It’s gonna be even funnier when PG isn’t nearly as good with them as harden was and morey tries to trade him to like Detroit in two years.
I’d almost rather have given that contract to Harden last year than PG
Harden is the better player and is being paid a fraction make it make sense
PG has been on very forgiving fanbases thus far, Sixers fans are going to melt down once he has his regular disappearing acts
Sixers fans gonna get Ben Simmons 2.0 then trade him away for a bag of peanuts.
There’s a reason PG was so desperate to sign a max this year, even with a gm who is likely to send him to like Detroit or something in two years, while harden didn’t care at all. PG is declining physically and he knows it, he’s already injury prone, and he’s not nearly as impactful as harden. If he loses a step he’s gonna look terrible Harden has gotten more athletic every year since the hamstring and is at the very least a 6’5 all time great floor general that can make any offense look like a well oiled machine and is an all time great three point shooter. There’s always gonna be a market for that.
Yeah I don't really understand what Harden wanted. There's no way Morey wouldn't give him two years 70 mil right?
It was definitely personal more than financial. I understand both sides. Harden left a LOT of money on the table for Morey by leaving the nets and taking the pay cut that first year. He declined too much to be worth a full max plus the penalties of the new CBA made Morey decide to back out.
> He declined too much to be worth a full max plus the penalties of the new CBA made Morey decide to back out. While I agree with that and Philly did the right thing by not giving Harden a max... they literally just handed an even larger 4 year max to a different declining player who is even older than Harden was at that time. The situation is a little different as the Sixers are running out of time with Embiid, but still - the optics of Morey handing George that contract must drive Harden batshit insane.
Exactly. I think most people in Morey's position would do the same since he's got a job to do, but Harden is justified in feeling betrayed.
If he had been straight up I genuinely think Harden would have at least been willing to try and work around it but he ghosted Harden instead, which... is thoroughly unsurprising in retrospect. Morey isn't exactly a paragon of mature and open communication, dude is avoidant as fuck based off stuff we've seen like the CP3 to OKC situation. Seems like he says whatever he needs to say in the short term to avoid having hard conversations.
He's just a classic executive, no qualms lying to your face about something then stabbing you in the back if it's for his own gain
For sure. I think this might have been lost in my comment but I didn't mean most people would do what Morey did, but most people who get into the position he has gotten into would. You don't make your way to the top of a profession like that by being nice.
He was still worth a full max, especially if pg is
This is a very Morey-esque view of the situation lol. You would think that the whole 'Daryl Morey is a liar' episode would make it somewhat clear what drove Harden's decision.
Harden took a paycut and expected Morey to take care of him. It wasn't the money it was the disrespect
It seems pretty clear that morey lied to him and actually disrespected him. Harden isn’t the first guy to have problems with morey
It was entirely about Morey trying to go ghost on him, like he didn't want to man up and tell James "hey remember that thing I told you I'd get you... " Gotta remember those 2 had constant communications for like a **decade.** It wasn't a normal player/GM relationship.. and then one day Morey just randomly stops replying for the first time since 2013 lol
And sixers got picks lol
PG was not worth the money. He wasn’t disrespected. Harden was disrespected because he was promised something and then they pulled the rug from under him. Not at all the same situation.
The clippers needed a pg and the sixers need a wing. I cant imagine they really wanted to take the ball out of maxeys hands that much
If they'd just paid Harden at the time then waited for Tobias Harris's contract to expire + the cap spike, they would have an even better roster than they do now
> the cap spike Just FYI there is no cap spike, the cap can only go up 10% max per year, due to smoothing rules.
Not necessarily. I think giving maxey the room to develop as a lead guard was the right call. Using harden off ball as a max player would be a waste of his talent and money.
It is weird that anyone would read this as PG feeling disrespected
Yeah, but if Harden’s narrative is true he was actually disrespected and lied to. PG is just being a hypersensitive petty bitch. “They think I’ll stay because my family is here. Well fuck them I’m out” is some seriously petty shit.
Kinda depends how they said it tbh.
i mean philly also offered substantially more money. probably had something to do with it too.
Well thankfully now his family can afford tickets.
Provider P
Profit P
Populist P
Philip Rivers P
But can the andersens afford tickets is the real question
I know that commercial is like 8 years old now, but I still say, "We're going... to the game!" every time I buy a pair of tickets for my brother and I
Maybe a hotdog and some popcorn. Maybe.
They were betting that he wanted to stay in California. And I think they were probably right. What they were wrong about was that he wanted to stay badly enough to take one less year on his contract. I think his priorities were: 1. Getting the four year max 2. Staying in California (if possible), and 3. Staying on the Clippers (if possible). I think he would have liked to have stayed on the Clippers and in California if he could have got the contract he wanted. Or if not from the Clippers, then from the Warriors. But he wasn't able to. And so he left to the Sixers.
I think what a lot of people don't realize as well is, yes PG has made a lot of money in his career. But this new 4-year deal is equivalent to roughly 2/3 of his total current career earnings ($305MM he's made since 2010 compared to $212MM he'll make between now and 2028). That's just a testament to how crazy cap inflation is. People are arguing that pushing for the extra year makes him greedy, considering he's already rich. But it's a weird argument imo. Very few max-level players take team-friendly deals / paycuts. Especially when they're arguably the most noteworthy FA on the market.
I completely understand why he took that contract. I'm not mad at him at all. He needs to look out for himself and his family. NBA teams trade key players all the time. OKC did that with Harden, The Clippers did that with Blake, Celtics did that with Smart, Kings did that with Halliburton, Raptors did that DeRozan, etc.
100% it's just the game
I got the basketball, you got the briefcase...
Almost every one of us would follow the money if we were in their position.. I know damn well I would.
This is a great way to put it. Lets say in our day to day jobs we are given an option to move across the country to make effectively 60% of what we've made in our entire lives, and to do the same exact thing we've been doing. I would accept that ish in a heartbeat. Just because someone has a lot of money doesn't mean they won't strive to get as much as they think they're worth
I think it's hard for most people to imagine leaving their current job and uprooting their family to move across the country so they can make 210 million rather than 170 million or whatever. Like for most of us that's such a staggeringly ridiculous amount of money either way that it's like 'bro you really needed that extra 40 mil?' Not saying you're wrong btw, I just think these salaries are so unbelievably high that it's hard for normal people to even think about
I think there's a pretty big tax difference between Pennsylvania and California too. Cursory google says about 13% income tax to approx 3% income tax. Pretty sure that only matters for home games but still works out to an additional $10m over the life of the contract if I'm doing the math right. An extra $50m does sound pretty appealing when you package it up like that lol
It’s 6% because he’s going to pay Philly city wage at 3% as well.
There isn’t a single example of a max caliber player taking less since the miami big 3 that i can remember
and it seems like the 4th year was a non-starter for the Clippers given Kawhi only has 3 years left
“The Clippers thought I cared about seeing my family more than extra guaranteed money? The blatant disrespect…”
Clippers: do it pussy u won’t
K
Excited Ballmer face
We all have/had that one friend who heard the words "you won't" and just thought "well now I have to"
You better not be turning down no 70 million dollars on our account. -Paul George's wife, baby-momma, second baby-momma, and third bany-momma
Doc rivers daughter*
P sure PG13 wife is a Serbian stripper.
I know he's rich and all but this is kind of embarrassing https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ny-supreme-court/1680245.html
Lol wait he got sued for child support by his baby momma and now she's his wife?
Worst part is he married her after impregnating her a SECOND time after trying to deny he was the father of the first kid.
Gotta settle down sometime I guess 🤷🏻♂️
Paul George is who we should all aspire to be as fathers and husbands
Lol wth, is she Aphrodite or something?
I think he's just dumb. I've never gotten the sense that there was anything meaningful going on behind those eyes tbh.
That's the crazy/firebox combo jackpot
Paul George has three children, all with his wife. What is this weird, coded joke?
More like “The Clippers tried to use my family as leverage to get out of paying me my market value”
Or they just thought he wasn't worth his market value which apparently included a 4th year. They didn't give Kawhi, a much better player, a 4th year
Yeah it's clear they are gearing up for a rebuild if this team is mediocre this year. Doesn't make sense to give PG an extra year
Right? The clippers went for a pure business approach and PG responded by doing the same. Why is he obligated to give them a discount when they're already basically challenging him to leave?
> Why is he obligated to give them a discount when they're already basically challenging him to leave? He's not, literally nobody suggested they felt he should feel any sort of obligation to stay with the Clippers if he didn't like their offer. What are you talking about?
They really thought he and his family would give up 50 million dollars to be able to watch him easier in person? For that money, he could fly them to Philly on a private plane for every game. Or buy them all new houses in his new city.
They can just use a telescope to watch his games.
Or just watch on NBA League Pass.
More like: “You think my family cares more about seeing me play, than seeing me earning many extra millions?”
More like "Paul George has talked a lot over the years about what a privilege it is to have his parents live nearby and be courtside at games, that will probably factor into his decision"
"You think I got a family?"
Paul "Aaron Rodgers" George
It's hilarious to me that owners are all business when it comes player contracts, thinking he wouldn't leave because of family and then offering him less, but then they get completely blindsided when players have a "just-business" mentally right back to them. You can't act like a scum bag and then expect him to give you a family discount or whatever. The clips are justified in offering less and PG is justified in taking more money and walking to go to a team where he has basically the same odds to win a title with. PG has proven that he's more than willing to help out teams that are good to him(see: OKC now).
> It's hilarious to me that owners are all business when it comes player contracts, thinking he wouldn't leave because of family and then offering him less, but then they get completely blindsided when players have a "just-business" mentally right back to them. Where is the report that LAC was "completely blindsided" by his decision to take the bag and leave? Becuase it feels like you are just making that part up.
Clippers meeting with Paul George was “intense” and “at one point Steve Ballmer was crying” but everyone grew closer and a big lesson was learned
People are reading so much into "the Clippers didn't want to lock Paul George in for four years, and thought the benefit of being near family would be a positive in their favor" lmao thinking the way these dudes do must be *exhausting*
A source close to my eyeballs that are attached to my brain that watched this dude all season tells me that he isn't worth $50m to $60m a year now let alone over the next 4 years, and with the new rules it just wasn't worth it for the Clippers to not be able to have any depth just to watch this guy barely break 1.0 points per possession on the iso possessions he always insisted on running over taking the open 3 that was created for him, all while refusing to guard up on the other teams best players and never fight for a rebound, play with physicality, get himself into foul trouble when he doesn't feel like trying, etc. mfer just played like he was trying to not get hurt out there. The Clippers will probably have their season end in the exact same spot this year - they'll make the playoffs, probably lose in the first round, but they won't be committed to an old ass PG making way too much money.
Hearing how PG sounds in interviews/post game / his podcast over the years…can’t convince me that he genuinely cares about anything other than the bag at the end of the day. Which isn’t a bad thing. That’s most these guys.
Demar DeRozan was right.
Any Clipper fan that watched the playoffs saw Zubac outplay him. That says a lot. Kawhi, Harden, Zubac, are all more important than him. Harden for 35 mil vs PG for 50 mil? It's not even a question which I'd rather take
id rather take harden for 50 mill
Ngl this sounds exactly like Tobias Harris lmao
Hes the Michael Jordan of the Tobias harris's
you get to hear him trot out excuses on his podcast afterwards too
Having watched a full season of both hes like a more ball dominant tobias. Tbf sometimes he will start cooking tho
Oh god it does
PG been coasting off his name for a minute. Don't get me wrong, he's a good player, but the Sixers are going to feel dumb as shit in year 3 once it's clear they aren't actually getting over the hump, and their cap sheet is fucked sideways
Contracts that might age poorly are the new reality of the NBA. If they didn’t use that cap it would have disappeared. What was the better move for them if not signing PG to be their hopefully third best player ?
Weird delusional coping here on reddit. The max for PG is a slam dunk deal for Philly. That there are legitimate reasons for Clippers not to go for that deal doesn't invalidate that. That being said, the Clippers statement about the 2nd apron was kinda horse shit lol. They were willing to give him 3 years. Which together with Kawhi and Harden puts them over the 2nd apron for 24/25 and 25/26. In the 4th year their cap sheet is very clean, they could be out of the 2nd apron easily. Not saying they should have offered the 4th year, but offering 3 instead of 4 is not because of the apron
Nah, they won’t feel dumb because they had use it or lose it money. Who else would they have gotten? KCP and Hartenstein? That’s not doing anything for them. But yes, PG been coasting on reputation in a lot of ways. He’s not some 2 way stud anymore. He’s a great floor spacer, shoots the hell out of the ball, and he can create his own jumpers. But his defense is nowhere near as good, he doesn’t get to the hoop, and he doesn’t do any of the little things anymore.
bro his jumpshot is streaky as hell, he was guaranteed to shoot tour dates in 5 out of every 7-8 games he played for the clippers and his dribbles create negative spacing. and none of this is a new thing, take almost any of his playoff series since he switched to the thunder and you'll see the same pattern. and don't even get me started on his defense or hustle, bro is happy ball watching half the time pg is the epitome of an unserious, do it for the gram player if I've ever seen one
So now PGs camp is putting out that he felt disrespected when we all know that he just wanted the bag
Probably came from the same Podcast co-host that couldn't spell Kawhi's name correctly
You mean the guy who stole from the Walmart while he was a csun bball player?
lol the dude was stealing [xbox games ](https://www.dailybreeze.com/2009/01/31/csun-basketball-player-rutherford-pleads-guilty/)
Yes the guy that stole from Best buy and is hanging on the coat tails of PG
Also the guy who said Jrue Holiday is better than Luka and would pick Jrue over Luka to build a team around That guy is an idiot
I felt disrespected watching that 1st round match up vs the mavs.
Dude wasn't even the best player when Kawhi was out and wants to be paid more than Kawhi and Harden lol
He wasn't even the 2nd best player on the team that series. He wants to be paid like a superstar but play like a role player. He is literally rich man's Tobias Harris, he's gonna fit right in with Philly and the fans will love him.
Complains about doing the "dirty work" despite being the most paid player on the team
Disrespect comes in many forms. Amount of money someone is willing to pay you is definitely one of them.
Paying him the max would have put the Clippers in 2nd apron territory which every team in the league is trying to avoid. All while PG is complaining that he doesn't want to do the "dirty work" like rebounding cuz that should be someone else
I didn't think it was the amount that was the problem, just the contract length. I thought they offered him the max (or close to it), just not the 4th year?
They were offering the Kawhi contract, which is slightly less than the max and at 3 years instead of 4.
> which every team in the league is trying to avoid I mean, not *every* team...
“Set yourself on fire to keep me warm or you’re disrespecting me”
He can feel disrespected that they thought they could force him to take less than his own perceived value
Not even perceived value. He actually got it
lol this is so true. People are acting like he didn't get the exact contract he was asking the Clippers for
Or they just didn't think he was worth that amount
This is weird phrasing. They wouldn't ever be in a situation to "force" him to do anything. Maybe he can feel disrespected that their offer was less than he could get elsewhere, but LAC wasn't "forcing" him to do anything, or anything even close to that.
I was wondering when we were going to get this from Law, since it's been obvious that PG was his main go to
“Sorry we aren’t dumb enough to want to pay a 39 year old already injury prone player $50 million” Is what the clippers should’ve told him
He’ll have just turned 38 by the time the contract is over. Not saying it’s a great deal and that last year or two he’s absolutely going to be overpaid, but still.
Yep. He'll turn 38 on May 2nd of 2028, right before his contract expires in June of that year.
A source close to George believes that what the Clippers were getting at. I think in actuality it’s fair to think at this stage in your career you’d rather stay in your hometown/LA. I don’t see L. Frank going “..but PG! What about your family sitting in row 3, seats 4-9, section 102 in the Intuit dome!”
Well row 3, Frank, thats your problem right there. Section 102 under the basket? No wonder he left….
His mom is disabled which makes physically going to games difficult enough, and they all were in LA. Traveling on a plane, finding accommodations, etc is much more difficult for her, then playing in LA. PG has said multiple times that’s the best part about him playing here in LA. But let’s meme because Wayoff P right?
LMFAO. Let the PR spin begin. He went after money, period.
Honestly it doesn't even seem like PR spin so much as "fans" like people on here running crazy with a pretty mild detail. Like, anyone reasonable knows it was not the only or most important factor (that's be the money and 4th year), but I wouldn't be surprised if the Clippers thought PG might be a little more willing to take a smaller offer to be near family (which happens), and PG didn't think that should be a factor.
Bro said fuck his family he needs bandzzz
Not to be that guy but the dude didn't even want the family he has lol
I wonder how often the average close family member actually goes to games. There’s 41+ a year. I imagine I would go a lot, but after a couple of years the novelty would wear off, and who knows.
His parents go to almost every home game. Mom can’t travel often due to health issues and has to use a wheelchair to get to her seats
Also an extra $54-60m is nice.
I never realized how much Paul George looks like Donovan Mitchell
"Fuck those kids" -Paul George
Why is Mitchell here?
Honestly in a vacuum if we look at it as Harden on a great contract for PG on a max + picks I think it’s win-win for both teams Clippers got to add depth, youth and athleticism to their old ass roster to get them through the regular season and rest Kawhi Sixers got to greatly increase their ceiling
Right now yes, but: 1. The Clippers got 1 year of Harden + Kawhi + PG and none of those guys are getting any better. That should be a title window opportunity, but Kawhi wasn't healthy so it's wasted. 2. The pick and swap the Clippers gave up in 28 and 29 could end up be REALLY REALLY good. Kawhi and Harden will probably be gone by then, and the Clippers don't seem like they'll have any opportunity to bring in young talent between now and then. Unless they find some gold in free agency those picks are soooooooo dangerous. Even if Embiid and PG are washed by then, that can be what you need to bring in a new star to play with Maxey.
28 can be good, but at least 29 swap is I believe 1-5 protected.
[It looks it's top 3 protected](https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/76ers-trade-harden-tucker-to-clippers). Not quite as good, but still very dangerous. With the lottery odds as they are now there's a very good chance that conveys even if the Clippers have the worst record in the league. I wonder what happens if the pick does end up being protected. I haven't seen any specifics...
Good catch! I’m pretty sure it just becomes nothing like all other in unexercised swaps, but I obviously don’t have all the details.
The Clippers have had 15 winning seasons in a row and their front office has shown they're able to turn limited assets into a lot (see: Chris Paul leaving and no assets or stars making the playoffs, pushing the peak Warriors to 6, and getting Kawhi/PG a year later), so odds are better those picks won't be all that great.
This like saying that you flipped a coin 15 times and they were all heads, so the next 5 times will definitely be heads as well. Maybe they will figure it out, but just because they have recently doesn't mean they always will. You need to be able to independently evaluate the situation as it is currently, which means looking at the dearth of long term assets alongside the recent success.
I mean Clippers have a point, that should be incentive to stay and take a pay cut and George was like "you think I care about my family? how dare you"
Pg is soft as hell.
There’s no way he finishes this year without announcing that the fans are giving him depression on his podcast
Him going to Philly/NY was the worst choice regarding his mental health. Those fans will let him hear it and he doesn’t like facing accountability.
Bro, 100% agree. Philly fans will be ruthless to him after the the honeymoon phase is done.
He will never do the dirty work and little things that you need from a glue guy. Embiid needs a dawg next to him
Nope he won't. He complained about doing it all the damn time.
Watch how fast philly turns on pg ....just based on his attitude...dude blaming the clippers for using playing close to family against him for leverage....but the dude obviously values money, over being close to his family.....this is the same dude that cheated on doc rivers daugher with his current wife, who was a stripper he impregnanted, then sued him becaused he tried to deny the kid being his lol
Clippers and Warriors FO reaping their self-assured sewing this season. I get wanting to duck the 2nd apron in theory but the half-steps back they both made doesn’t make them (potentially) good enough to be interesting or bad enough to reset fully. Most likely scenario is a super expensive 7-9 seed with one generational talent
Wouldn’t be expensive if under the luxury tax!
We actually made the right move not giving him the max contract he wanted. In 2026 we will have a chance (although small) to get Luka. We have no draft picks, we are gonna desperately and aggressively purse free agents. Also we finally get to move on from the failed 213 experiment. I dont want to slander PG, but I'd rather not have him and turn our directions to the future then do this loop again.
Sixers fans will be booing him within the first playoff series
Philly fans will go wild if he does a playoffs p with some of those westbrick bombs that hits the side of the backboard
Morey legit hinged our entire offseason on the Clippers being dumbassess and it worked lmao
The contract is different for the Sixers than it was for the Clippers. If the Clippers offered it, it would have severe consequences due to the new CBA. For the Sixers, they know that the contract will likely age poorly. But they need to maximize the last of Embiid's prime and believe that PG (unlike Harden) is the player to do it. If he's not, then once the contract is over, Embiid's prime will probably be over. And they can just rebuild around Maxey. And unlike the Clippers, the Sixers aren't affected by the consequences of the new CBA. There's a reason the Sixers were the only team to offer that contract to PG. It's not because the Clippers are dumbasses. It's because the Sixers are desperate.
The clippers did not want Paul George lol. And the idea that they are dumb for not signing 34 year old Paul George to a 4 year max contract is also ridiculous.
People still think PG is going to move the needle. I give it until January and fans will be complaining that he doesn’t even like basketball anymore.
Thats what i am thinking. People be roasting the shit out of this dudes performances and his attitude but then turn around and say he should be paid 50million at the spry age of 38?
January? 6ers fans will turn on him in their first loss of the season lol
I’m a PG hater but it’s a good move for Philly. He’s 3rd option there and can bring the points when needed and he should age gracefully with his shooting skills
I wouldn’t say dumbasses. I just don’t think they believed he was worth all that. Morey probably had a ton of plans; like loading up on depth ($49M can be split up into like 3+ impact pieces… KCP, DJJ, Naji, Miles Bridges, Melton, etc — some of those guys) if star hunting didn’t work out.
Yeah the Clippers backup plan was to load up on depth and they've done well so far, DJJ, Batum, Dunn is at least a very solid defense
You lost the plot my brother lmao
Clippers are dumbasses because we didn't want to give a 38 year old Paul George a max? Lmao have fun with PG in the playoffs.
Yes clippers being dumbasses for paying old pg a 4 year max so we are in the 2nd apron
Dumbasses? Lol… oh you just wait…
because everyone other than Morey knows PG isn't worth that kinda money lol