Paul George revealed his facet of the negotiation story throughout a current episode of his podcast, detailing why he left the Los Angeles Clippers for the Philadelphia 76ers. George stated the Clippers initially supplied him simply $60 million over two years final fall.
“I’m like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” George stated on his podcast, “Podcast P.” “Two years, 60? That’s loopy! I’m not signing that.”
George tabled extension talks in February, just a few weeks after Kawhi Leonard signed a three-year, $153 million extension with the Clippers. George was occupied with a much like Leonard, however the Clippers supplied him much less.
“‘We got here right here collectively, we need to end this s— collectively. I’ll take what Kawhi received, I used to be cool with that and we have been nonetheless taking much less. Kawhi took much less, so if Kawhi takes much less, I’m not going,” he stated.
“It’s not about me being paid greater than him. I’m going to take what he received.’ They didn’t need to try this … Let me get to the tip of this yr and we’ll focus on this once more.”
George stated the Clippers additionally declined to incorporate a no-trade clause, which led him to request a fourth season {that a} rival group may additionally supply in free company. The Clippers may have paid as much as $221 million on a four-year contract, however he was prepared to remain for a similar quantity he may make on the open market.
“They didn’t need to do no commerce,” George stated. “I’m like, all proper, properly then it solely is sensible for me to do 4 years, $212 million. At the least pay me my cash. If y’all going to commerce me, y’all going to commerce me. However a minimum of now I’m not in a state of affairs the place I may have gotten extra, had I simply gone to free company, then simply take this deal the place y’all may ship me. … They didn’t need to try this, so now I used to be like, I’m open to entertaining what’s on the market.”
George additionally thought a state of affairs with the Golden State Warriors was shut.
“That was an actual factor that was near being carried out,” George stated of a doable commerce to Golden State. “It was very intriguing and it was nonetheless a possibility to remain near house, keep on the West Coast, and it was a win-win. I feel Steph is a unicorn, one among one participant, and Joel’s a unicorn… So it was sort of like a great state of affairs to be in the course of, however in the end the deal didn’t undergo. I feel the Clippers didn’t desire a sure commerce deal that the Warriors have been prepared to offer … but it surely was shut. It’d been dope, man.”
George in the end most well-liked to stay with the Clippers and it was their negotiations that led to his exit.
“Simply to place it on the market, I by no means wished to depart LA initially,” George stated. “I used to be not attempting to depart LA. LA is house. That is the place I wished to complete at. I wished to work as arduous as doable to win one in LA, that was the purpose … the primary preliminary deal was, I assumed, sort of disrespectful.”
