Video: 76ers' Paul George Says Teaming Up With Joel Embiid Felt 'Inevitable'

While Paul George says he never wanted to leave Los Angeles, he secretly felt it was "inevitable" that he and Joel Embiid would be teammates.

"I've always been a fan of Tyrese [Maxey] and Joel from afar. Joel has secretly been one of my closest All-Star Game friends, so it kind of felt inevitable we would link up and be teammates. I'm all in," George told reporters Tuesday.

George signed a four-year, $212 million contract with the Sixers earlier this month. He'll join Embiid and Maxey to give Philly arguably the best 1-2-3 punch in the NBA.

The Sixers' good fortune came directly as a result of a financial decision made by the Clippers, who refused to offer George a max contract or give him a no-trade clause in a lesser deal. George said he felt disrespected by the Clippers front office, which initially only offered him a two-year, $60 million extension before later upping the offer.

"I never wanted to leave L.A.," George said on his podcast. "L.A. is home, this is where I wanted to finish at, and I wanted to work as hard as possible to win one in L.A. That was the goal, to be here and be committed to L.A. As it played out though, the first initial deal was I thought kind of disrespectful. In all of this, no hard feelings, no love lost ... it's a business. So the first initial deal was like two years, 60. So I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

"That's crazy! I'm like, 'Naw, I'm not signing that.'"

The Clippers released a statement that essentially laid the blame at the feet of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, which places heavy restrictions on teams that go above the second tax apron. Re-signing George would have taken the Clippers above that mark for at least the next two seasons, resulting in a team built on the backs of aging players in George, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.

Instead, LA lost George for nothing and the Sixers landed the biggest free-agent prize of the offseason.