Paul George Says He's Involved in 'Active' Contract Extension Talks With Clippers
Paul George told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes to sign a contract extension with the Los Angeles Clippers that would allow him to retire with the team, and that talks between the sides are "active."
"I'm back home with a great organization," he continued. "An organization that believes in winning and does everything it can to win. Why not retire here? It would be a dream. Hopefully I can ride it out, hopefully compete for multiple championships while I'm a Clipper. To be able to say I played home, and did something great at home, that's first on my agenda."
George, 33, has a $48.7 million player option for the 2024-25 season, though it's likely he would decline that in favor of signing a long-term deal. One of the interesting questions will be whether the Clippers are willing to commit another max deal to a player who hasn't played 60 games in a season since the 2018-19 campaign due to multiple injuries.
It's the same question they'll have to ask regarding the 32-year-old Leonard, who has an identical player option for next season and even more severe durability issues.
When healthy, the duo has proven to be one of the most effective star pairings in the NBA. In 38 games played together last season, Leonard and George led the Clippers to a 24-14 record, and when they were on the court together the team outscored opponents by 8.9 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.
But since the pair joined forces ahead of the 2019-20 season, they've won just three playoff series and failed to reach the playoffs altogether in the 2021-22 campaign. George and Leonard joined the Clippers were serious title ambitions and expectations, and they simply haven't lived up to them.
Staying healthy would help, but the Clippers have real justifications for potentially being concerned about dedicating hundreds of millions of dollars to the injury-prone duo as they enter their mid-30s. It will be a fascinating subplot heading into the summer if George and Leonard don't sign long-term extensions before the offseason.
