Reunion evening in Los Angeles, since Paul George is back with his new Sixers team. However, it will not be at the Crypto.com Arena, but at the Intuit Dome, which he will therefore discover…
For Steve Ballmer, this is an opportunity to remind people that he wanted to keep the winger, but not at any cost.
“We wanted to keep Paul” insists the owner. “We made him a big offer, we really wanted him to stay. We just didn't want to put ourselves in a position where we couldn't be good consistently. He was offered the maximum over three years and Philly offered him the maximum over four years. I understand. But as part of our desire to remain competitive (consistently), it was going to be a problem. »
“If he comes back, we can't sign Derrick Jones Jr. We can't sign Kris Dunn, and implement our new defensive identity. We probably can’t sign Kevin Porter Jr. or Nico Batum…”
Having already extended Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers were reluctant to offer so many guarantees and money to Paul George who, at 34, is a fragile player. They therefore decided to change course.
“The truth is that with Paul's departure, we were able to improve the team. If he comes back, we can't sign Derrick Jones Jr. We can't sign Kris Dunn, and implement our new defensive identity. We probably can't sign Kevin Porter Jr. or Nico (Batum)… You can tell me they're not Paul George, and that's true. »
Norman Powell thus spoke of Paul George's departure as an “addition by subtraction”. This is also how Steve Ballmer presents it, who assures us that it was “the right choice for us” because it allowed the Clippers to sign “three tough players” and of “keep the ability to constantly improve the workforce. »
Financial flexibility was indeed the key for Los Angeles in the era of the new collective agreement.
“Once your Draft choice becomes set in stone, and you’re stuck in the “second apron” for several years, you’re really in trouble.” concludes Lawrence Frank, the club’s president of basketball operations. “You no longer have any salary margin, you no longer have exceptions and you only have to make do with minimum contracts and exchanges. And our goal is to be able to fight for the title consistently. »
