An ominous report regarding the Philadelphia 76ers’ pursuit of Paul George came out late Thursday and the NBA world now waits to find out the league-wide ramifications.
The 76ers, led by general manager Darryl Morey, are said to have soured on the idea of bringing in George, who can become a free agent by declining his player option, according to The Athletic.
“The Philadelphia 76ers’ interest in pursuing Paul George has significantly waned in recent days, and the franchise is expected to be aggressive elsewhere with its salary cap flexibility and draft capital leading into next week’s NBA Draft,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on X.
Morey previously said the 76ers were facing a lot of change this offseason after losing in the first round of playoffs to the Knicks.
George, who holds a $48.8 million player option for the 2024-25 season, is looking for a max contract be it with the Clippers or a potential free-agent suitor like the 76ers, who are flush with cap space.
Morey has constantly pulled a rabbit out of a hat during his career running the Rockets and 76ers.
He traded for Chris Paul, James Harden twice and Russell Westbrook, as well as signing Dwight Howard while he was still in his prime.
Many of these moves were shocking and unexpected, as Paul was running mates alongside Blake Griffin in Los Angeles and James Harden seemed like a franchise cornerstone for the Thunder.
Morey deciding to pass on George this early in the process likely means that he has another trick or two up his sleeve in his attempt to build around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
The general thinking had been Morey would target a third star, like George. That option could still be on the table or perhaps Morey could target lesser-tier complementary players, like the Knicks have.
The Houdini-like general manager has plenty of assets available at his disposal, and George is not the only possible star available.
Jimmy Butler, a former 76er, seems to be on the outs in Miami.
Butler spent one season in Miami before he departed for South Beach after a season..
If Butler isn’t the option to fill up the 76ers’ vast cap space, projected by ESPN to be around $53 million, Morey could make a run at bringing LeBron James to the City of Brotherly Love.
James is expected to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent starting in July.
No matter what Morey is plotting you’d figure that it is kept close to the chest leading up to July in an attempt to avoid tampering fines.
