Paul George was perhaps the most expensive trade addition in NBA history when the Los Angeles Clippers gave up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a historic trove of draft picks to get him in 2019. When he left in 2024, however, it was for nothing. While the Clippers reportedly considered trades, they ultimately elected to let him walk for nothing as a free agent. Their final offer, according to George himself, came in at around $150 million over three years. That's roughly $60 million in guaranteed money below what he ultimately signed for with the Philadelphia 76ers.
George has said himself he was willing to stay with the Clippers, but they didn't offer a no-trade clause, and they didn't give him the four-year deal the 76ers did. As team owner Steve Ballmer explained to reporters on Friday, the Clippers made an offer that made sense for them, not for George, because of the new rules instituted by the 2023 collective bargaining agreement.
"From a basketball perspective, Paul is a fantastic player, future Hall of Famer. But we knew we needed to continue to get better," Ballmer said. "And with the new CBA, what tools, what flexibility [can be restricted], we made Paul what I consider a great offer. But it was a great offer in terms of us thinking about how to win championships. It wasn't what Paul wanted."
The decision to let George go was fundamentally based in a desire to avoid the second apron at all costs. Second-apron teams are incredibly restricted in terms of what kinds of moves they can make, and they even have a future first-round pick frozen. As Ballmer noted, that's worthwhile to some teams, but that doesn't mean it was worthwhile to the Clippers.
"I think people are going to be very thoughtful about how they continue [to] build their rosters to win," Ballmer said. "I think people are going to be over the second apron, but when you're over the second apron, you better feel like you got a clear shot [to win]. You stay up there two years, you better really feel like you got a clear shot."
The subtext there is, essentially, that Ballmer did not believe the last iteration of the team had a clear shot. That's a reasonable stance given the age and injury histories of George, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, but it's a pretty sharp turn from the mindset that led them to acquire Harden in the first place. The Clippers had a 26-5 stretch with all three in the lineup, suggesting that there may have been some championship upside on this roster. It just hasn't proven sustainable over a full season.
So rather than deal with the consequences of keeping this team together, Ballmer broke it apart even if doing so was hard on him. "I love Paul," Ballmer said. "Let's start with Paul as a human being. Paul is a great human being, and I've really enjoyed my opportunity to get to know Paul's family. So on a personal level, I hated it. I hated it."
Competing for championships means making hard decisions. The Celtics traded Marcus Smart, the purported heart and soul of their team, last summer. The Clippers are significantly further away from the title than the Celtics were, but they have ultimately decided that major change was needed. It came, and only time will tell if it was worth it.
