Paul George is still the ultimate NBA wing icon

This summer’s major free agent is, frankly, a Costar. Any club pursuing Paul George is not doing so in order to hand him the keys to their offense; A big part of George’s appeal is that you don’t have to do that. He plays a balanced game that is particularly attractive because it is not dominant or intrusive – an easy fit for virtually any lineup and any style. Thus, it’s no surprise that so many winning teams would be interested in signing or trading for George, although the breadth of that interest gives him a surprising amount of clout. The offseason market is now effectively up to his decision.

George’s fans would love to see him join an established team in exchange for his versatile, all-round game and the chance to develop into something more. By comparison, what the Clippers have offered is familiar: an opportunity for George to move forward in the same organization with the same running backs, while he more or less remains and plays in his hometown. Returning to Southern California, George spent several years fishing. The reason for this is that he will not be easily seduced. Yet the Clippers have had the opportunity to extend George’s contract for about a year, and no deal has been reached — even with Kawhi Leonard apparently signing a three-year extension of his own in January Had done.

This contradiction reflects the obvious disconnect in the negotiations between George and the Clippers, but also reflects the different levels of position involved. Top-line superstars like Leonard almost never come to free agency anymore. They are usually extended or traded at their request, adjusted to the end on their own terms. Other stars are attractive enough to move the market, but no so Attractive, apparently, it should be put away in the first place. Free agency used to be a time for teams to clear house and take a risk – reinventing themselves in the image of a superstar. Now, it’s time for teams to enhance what they do without really changing who they are.

The reported obstacle to George’s return to the Clippers is his interest in a four-year deal, which is a year longer and a year richer than the one the team offered. The team’s concerns are certainly justified. George, now 34, has played nearly two-thirds of the Clippers’ games in his five seasons with the team, his availability often reduced simply because Leonard has played even less. The idea of ​​these Clippers could never stand up to the chronic injuries and mounting surgeries of the two stars who had to put it together. The 2023-24 season was George’s healthiest campaign in the last half decade, but now that he’s five years removed from his blockbuster trade to the Clippers and five years older, there’s little to show for it. Time has made George a different player. He can no longer perform top defensive work every night, or at least he shouldn’t. His jumper is as steady as ever, but he’s getting to the basket less often than at any point in his career.

Yet the Clippers really can’t afford to lose George, even if they posture as if they could. Push a little harder and PG could deliver a Sixers, or maybe even a Knicks — while the Clippers lineup led by Leonard (assuming he’s healthy) and James Harden (assuming he re-signs) looks intact. In the spotlight of the Dome’s inauguration. The best version of George is with other stars, working off the ball to allow players like Leonard and Harden to thrive. And the best version of the Clippers depends on George to provide the connective tissue between otherwise disparate perimeter talents. Even when Kawhi was out of the lineup, George changed and adapted to offer a wide range of lineups that he needed. It’s possible that the free agency rumors, opt-in-and-trade scenario, and side-eye from Joel Embiid are all just theater, a means for George to get what he wanted from the Clippers in the first place. . Yet other quality teams seem more than willing to play along, pinning their hopes on the possibility that these talks will go to waste.

Basketball stardom typically highlights ISO work and takeover scoring. George has that in his game, but what makes him the ideal second star is the way he brings the entire roster together. His skill set makes room for all types of teammates; George can make up for the lack of defenders, compensate for limited playmakers, and create lanes for straight-line drivers. Those qualities may be even more valuable in the age of the second apron. The biggest spending teams in the league will now be more reliant than ever on bargain-hunting talent, which is useful in some ways but clearly flawed in others. And these types of conditional players perform well next to a utility star like George. He is best suited not to lead a team, but to support a team – tying a rotation together to make every part of it stronger.

It’s because of that flexibility that, even 14 seasons in, George remains the closest thing to a role model the NBA has on the wing. Superstars like Leonard are extraordinary personalities, their ability to generate aggression is so absurd that they are given a kind of access and leeway that other players don’t get. The only way to play like Kawhi Leonard is to be, at least vaguely, as good as Kawhi Leonard — otherwise, an emerging wing will never be given the chance to create in the fashion that Kawhi does in the first place. But George’s game has something for every wing player of every age and type to emulate, making him a role model for an entire generation of wings. Prospects ranging from Brandon Miller to GG Jackson could adapt George’s game to their own and see a fluid, attainable type of stardom. Leonard built an all-time career through tremendous efficiency and scrappy edges. George found his way into an effortless style of form and action that has established him as one of the game’s most comfortable second options to this day.

George and Leonard have played well together when their bodies have allowed them to, though that’s mainly because George could play well with anyone. That’s what’s so attractive about his free agency; Teams are willing to hand a big contract to an aging wing with an injury history because he makes as much sense as any other star. George would be a dream addition to Embiid, moving in and out of the dribble handoff and stretching the weak-side defense. He would be an ideal pressure relief for Jalen Brunson, who will benefit not only from George’s first-class shooting, but the length he will bring to New York’s lineup. Following George, Paolo Banchero will see the light of day for the first time in his Magic career without compromising Orlando’s colorful, adaptable essence. The signing of George or the decisions of any of the players arriving in free agency these days may not change the landscape of the league — but at least the fortunes of some teams could.

At this point, George has tried to build a team of his own, working with one of the most overused superstars in the league and leading a modern superteam. Going back to the Clippers would be a continuation of that last point, essentially a return to the same worn-out competitive situation they chose five years ago. Even basketball-wise, this could be one of the tougher competitive paths available to him. There is clear, undeniable evidence that having multiple star feathers can lead to a title, as the pieces of confetti still scattered throughout the TD Garden can attest to. Yet those star pairings require a kind of work and interaction that others don’t – of roles, of attribution, and of literal space on the floor. The best superstar wing tandems can be overwhelming, even unstoppable. But everything a pair of wings has to do moves around each other, blending in ways that aren’t always intuitive.

George makes sense for any team, but at this stage of his career, not every roster makes the most sense For him, Much changed for George when the Clippers added Harden, a dedicated playmaker, freeing him from the system of generating offense play-by-play and allowing him to play more to his off-ball strengths. Gave permission. That might be a temptation to return — another reason to hope that, if only the Clippers’ stars can stay healthy, they can finally fulfill all of their on-paper promises. It could also be a window to the other side, and a reminder that there are other talented teams out there operating with the kind of spontaneity and structure that the Clippers never really had.