This is the NBA’s silly season.
There are still games being played — meaningful, important games, the kind that 26 other teams strive for — and we’re a month away from the NBA Draft. This is the time on the NBA calendar where the rumors start to swirl. Some are legitimate, others are the fanciful imagination of aggregators looking for clicks.
Reality starts here: Paul George, Donovan Michell and the Philadelphia 76ers. These three are the centers of this offseason, the biggest and first dominoes that, if/when they fall, will determine the course of this NBA summer. Let’s see where things stand.
• Paul George might (probably?) re-sign with the Clippers. That’s not a lock, if everyone had been on the same page he would have already signed an extension with the Clippers. However, the Clippers are moving into a new building in the fall and owner Steve Ballmer wants to do that with a splash, and the Clippers can’t replace him if he leaves (they’re locked out), so a deal will likely be made. Ballmer and Los Angeles are looking at one of the most expensive rosters in the NBA — especially if they re-sign James Harden this summer — and that’s where the distance exists between George and the Clippers. Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points (the Clippers’ top beat writers) broke it down brilliantly.
…there have been rumors that George, 34 years old and on his last major contract, wanted a fourth year as part of extension talks. According to sources not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, the Clippers had been reluctant to add that fourth year and were not offering him the maximum at this time…
George just had an excellent opportunity to prove he is worth the maximum contract he wants. If he had found a way to lead his Clippers to the second round without Kawhi Leonard, it might have been enough to guarantee him the contract he wanted — at least from another team, if not from the Clippers. Instead, he turned in his worst statistical postseason since his third season in the league with the Indiana Pacers.
Kawhi Leonard signed a three-year extension, just under the cap, to stay with the Clippers. Los Angeles is hesitant to give George an extra year and more money. The conventional wisdom NBC Sports has heard from sources around the league is that the two sides are working something out, but he feels closer to free agency every day.
• Philadelphia wants George, would it offer a four-year maximum? Because of that rift between the Clippers and George, there is optimism in Philadelphia that they can sneak in and lure George away from his home to the East Coast. Here’s what The Ringer’s Kevin O’Conner said recently “The Bill Simmons Podcast.”
“Well, the Sixers think there’s a real chance they end up with Paul George. When I talk to people around the league, they think there’s a real chance he ends up leaving. No guarantees, but there’s a chance. “
That would be a big gamble on Daryl Morey’s health – if Joel Embiid and Paul George (along with Tyrese Maxey, we’re not really worried about him) can make it to the East playoffs healthy, they’ll be a threat. However, history suggests that the chances of this all coming together are quite high. Still, as an excellent two-way wing between Maxey and Embiid, George makes a lot of sense, but is it four years at the max level?
• Donovan Mitchell will likely stay in Cleveland, but Philly is keeping an eye on him. There is no way JB Bickerstaff is fired as Cavaliers coach if Donovan Mitchell wanted him to stay. That was clearly a step in the Cavaliers’ efforts to get Mitchell to sign a four-year, $208.5 million maximum contract extension that they will present to him this summer. There is confidence in Cleveland that he will want to stay and sign the deal, but the team will have to work around him again (which could very well mean a new defensive companion other than Darius Garland, even if GM Koby Altman said he wants to keep the core together).
Philadephia keeps an eye on Mitchell when things don’t go well for George, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
Absent an extension with the Cavaliers, add Philadelphia to any proverbial group of suitors interested in Mitchell’s services, sources said.
• If not George or Mitchell, who for Philadelphia? If George and Mitchell end up re-signing with their current teams – a real possibility – where will Daryl Morey and the 76ers go?
If the Pelicans make Brandon Ingram available via trade as expected, he will become an option. However, New Orleans is a win-now team that wants good players back, not picks, making trading for Ingram difficult for a 76ers team that has stripped its roster to have maximum cap space.
Chicago acquired Zach LaVine at the trade deadline and will do so again this summer as the two sides are ready to part ways. That would also mean taking over the three years in which LaVine is still owed nearly $138 million (for another player with a long injury history).
Despite what Pat Riley said at his press conference, there are rumors that Miami could be willing to part ways with Jimmy Butler instead of extending him. Reuniting Butler and Joel Embiid could work, says Fischer at Yahoo Sports. He also notes that DeMar DeRozan is a free agent, but that’s not an ideal fit.
Washington tried to trade Kyle Kuzma at the deadline but couldn’t find a deal he liked. He will hit the trade market again this summer and could be a fallback option for Philly.
Pascal Siakam and LeBron James could be free agents this summer, but neither is a realistic option for Philly. Morey could try to make a big-money offer to acquire OG Anunoby from the Knicks, but that’s also highly unlikely.
