{"id":75839,"date":"2024-05-01T17:14:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T21:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=75839"},"modified":"2024-05-01T18:33:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T22:33:23","slug":"nba-rumors-2-east-teams-hot-clippers-paul-george-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/01\/nba-rumors-2-east-teams-hot-clippers-paul-george-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Rumors: 2 East Teams Hot on Clippers Star\u2019s Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are mixed signals coming out of California about Paul George<\/a>\u2019s future with the Los Angeles Clippers.<\/p>\n

Amid unsuccessful contract negotiations, tensions aren\u2019t high enough to say there\u2019s a dispute. However, other teams have taken notice of L.A.\u2019s seeming unwillingness to pay George the maximum. As a result, the ones that\u2019ll have money to burn this offseason are hot on his trail.<\/p>\n

According to ESPN\u2019s Ramona Shelburne, two such teams<\/a> are the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are two teams right now they\u2019re paying very close attention to Paul George, the Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia
\n76ers, because both of them have the money to throw at him and have a need for a wing just like him, a veteran guy (sic).\u201d \u2014 Ramona Shelburne<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Magic, Sixers Hot on Paul George\u2019s Trail<\/h2>\n

George heading down to Orlando for anything but a trip to Disney or the beach isn\u2019t impossible to fathom. Nonetheless, it seems far less realistic than him taking money from the Sixers to star next to Joel Embiid<\/a> and Tyrese Maxey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paul George to the Magic?<\/h3>\n

The Magic have two of the better player in the league in Paolo Banchero<\/a> and Franz Wagner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, Orlando has only just emerged from the NBA dungeon. Yet, unlike the Oklahoma City Thunder or Minnesota Timberwolves, the Magic haven\u2019t done it with a someone viewed as an MVP-level prospect. Indeed, Banchero\u2019s coaches \u2014namely former Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski \u2014view him as such<\/a>. However, that perspective hasn\u2019t caught fire in the greater basketball world.<\/p>\n

For comparison, Banchero averaged 22.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game in 2023-24. Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards<\/a> averaged 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Thunder leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> \u2014a 2024 NBA MVP Award<\/a> finalist \u2014averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game.<\/p>\n

Banchero is close. He\u2019s just not there yet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

His performance in his first postseason appearance may enhance his stature among the NBA fan base. To that point, he\u2019s averaging 24.8 points per game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the First Round. However, comparing his scoring average this postseason to either Edwards (31.0 points per game) or Gilgeous-Alexander (27.3 points per game), he\u2019s still a bit below their standard.<\/p>\n

It must be noted that Banchero is just 21 years old and in his second career season. That said, the 22-year-old Edwards and 25-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander are in their fourth and sixth seasons, respectively. Though this may make the Magic organization happy as it presents a favorable projection for Banchero\u2019s future outlook, a star such as George may feel he\u2019s a bit too green behind the ears. The 14-year NBA veteran is turning 34 years old on May 2.<\/p>\n

Paul George to the Sixers?<\/h3>\n

The Sixers have last season\u2019s MVP and this season\u2019s MIP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among the most dominant big men in NBA history, Embiid has averaged at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1 steal per game over the past three seasons. His lack of durability and shot-selection, particularly in the playoffs, are concerning. Nonetheless, there are few players as capable of leading their team to victory night-in and night-out.<\/p>\n

Maxey has transformed into a deadly offensive threat, averaging at least 20 points per game over the past two seasons. With Embiid limited by injury this postseason, he\u2019s stepped up against the New York Knicks in their First Round series, averaging 32.4 points per game. A 23-year-old guard that\u2019s growing as a playmaker on both ends, he\u2019s an ideal third option.<\/p>\n

At this point of their careers, a Big Three of Embiid, George, and Maxey is more talented than that of George, Kawhi Leonard<\/a>, and James Harden<\/a>. The Los Angeles Clippers do have better depth than the Sixers are currently projected to have. However, if Philadelphia can convince LeBron James<\/a> to sign as a free agent<\/a>, arguably only the Boston Celtics would have more attractive player personnel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are mixed signals coming out of California about Paul George\u2019s future with the Los Angeles Clippers. Amid unsuccessful contract negotiations, tensions aren\u2019t high enough to say there\u2019s a dispute. However, other teams have taken notice of L.A.\u2019s seeming unwillingness to pay George the maximum. As a result, the ones that\u2019ll have money to burn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":75850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1608,62,17,13],"tags":[267,297,3823,50,2478],"class_list":["post-75839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clippers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-magic","category-76ers","tag-joel-embiid","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-paolo-banchero","tag-paul-george","tag-tyrese-maxey"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}