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The Philadelphia 76ers continue to loom as a potential landing spot for Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George in the offseason, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
The reason: George and the Clippers have yet to agree to an extension more than two months since Kawhi Leonard took less money for the team to retain both George and former Sixers star James Harden.
“League sources say that Philadelphia continues to loom as an eager George suitor should he make it onto the open market and give the 76ers their formal opportunity to try to lure him across the country,” Stein wrote in his substack newsletter on March 20. “The Sixers are said to maintain interest in George despite the widely held presumption that he and Leonard want to keep playing together in their native Southern California.”
The Clippers have until June 30 to sign George to an extension.
Perfect 3-and-D Star
A 9-time NBA All-Star and a 4-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team, George could be the perfect 3-and-D star between reigning MVP Joel Embiid and the Sixers’ All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey.
The 33-year-old George has not shown signs of slowing down as he is averaging 22.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals on a 46/40/89 shooting split for his 9th All-Star season.
George is eligible to sign for four years and $220 million. It is unclear if George is willing to take a pay cut to stay in his hometown Los Angeles like Leonard.
“The Sixers are projected to have considerable cap space this summer to pursue another star-level target before the max contract extension they are expected to award All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey … but the tricky part is identifying a top-level free agent for them to actually pursue. Options are increasingly limited,” Stein wrote.
The Sixers have only Embiid and Paul Reed under guaranteed contracts for next season. Sixers president Daryl Morey has a projected $76.8 million in cap space this summer, per Spotrac, which in theory would be enough to re-sign Maxey and lure George in free agency to form another Big 3.
Sixers Newcomer Suffers Hamstring Injury
Kai Jones, who signed a 10-day contract with the Sixers, made an impression on coach Nick Nurse in his Delaware Blue Coats debut in G League on Friday, March 15.
Jones dropped 14 points while also recording eight rebounds five steals and one block with Nurse in attendance.
“I went up [to Wilmington] last night and watched him,” Nurse said, per SI.com. “He did some good things. He’s got some size, he’s got some athleticism. I don’t know how many dunks he had last night, probably like five or six, and a couple of them were pretty important. Like, tip-back and rebound dunks. He seemed to play his role really well.
Nurse added Jones didn’t seem to try to do too much.
“He rebounds, he runs, he really screens, and he moves it to the next action over and over again. For his first game, that wasn’t too bad,” Nurse said.
Unfortunately, Jones suffered a hamstring injury in his second game the following day which could torpedo his chances to stick with the Sixers.
“I think we just wanted to get him ten days down there,” Nurse said on Saturday, March 16. “After those ten days, we’ll re-evaluate and take it from there.”
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