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Paul George Sr., the father of the former Los Angeles Clippers star who signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason, revealed they looked at the Los Angeles Lakers as an option.
“I was looking at going next door [to the Lakers], but they already spent too much money,” George Sr. said on the September 2 episode of his son’s podcast.
The Lakers had no cap room to have signed George in the free agency. They would have needed the Clippers’ cooperation via sign-and-trade which is impossible given their intra-city rivalry.
The Golden State Warriors tried to convince the Clippers to sign and trade George to them but were rebuffed. It just showed the Clippers’ intention to not send George to a Western Conference rival while ducking the second apron of the new, punitive Collective Bargaining Agreement.
George Sr. said they felt the Clippers “stabbed us in the back because I thought Paul did a whole lot for the team.”
A superstar trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis of George would have catapulted back the Lakers into title contention.
George, a Lakers fan who grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant, was born and raised in Los Angeles county in Palmdale, California.
Ultimately, the 34-year-old George opted to go to Philadelphia, which gave him what he sought — a max contract worth $212 million over four years.
The Sixers instantly became one of the title contenders with their new Big Three of George with Joel Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP and Tyrese Maxey, last season’s Most Improved Player of the Year.
Lakers Stuck With Flawed Roster
The Lakers have been stuck with their current flawed roster because their role players, who had player options opted to return because of the supressed free agency market brought by the new CBA.
D’Angelo Russell, Christian Wood, Cam Reddish and Jaxon Hayes all opted to pick up their player options. Then the Lakers signed their two rookies Bronny James and Dalton Knecht that completely filled up their 15-man roster.
The Lakers’ quiet offseason was not for the lack of trying.
They have targeted Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan but both free agents went to Dallas and Sacramento, respectively via sign-and-trade.
In the end, the Lakers’ lack of financial flexibility doomed their offseason.
Rob Pelinka Explains Lakers’ Quiet Offseason
During their rookies James and Knecht’s introductory press conference, Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka explained their cautious approach in the trade market.
“We’re going to always be aggressive to trying to make roster upgrades and we’ll be relentless to continue to look at what we can do,” Pelinka told reporters.
But he also noted they are being cautious because of the new, punitive Collective Bargaining Agreement that restricts teams who reach the first and second aprons on what they can do to build out their rosters.
“If the right deal comes and we have to put in draft picks, we will,” Pelinka told reporters. “We are now in the apron world.”
The Lakers have two first-round picks (2029 and 2031) at their disposal plus five second-round picks from next year’s draft until 2031.
Pelinka cited contending teams losing players, which is a result of the new CBA.
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