With Paul George deal, Sixers swing for fences — a move they had to make

There was something so relatable about Joel Embiid’s twilight-hours tweet.

At 2:04 a.m. Eastern on Monday, as the NBA world waited for Paul George to decide on his free-agency future after his Los Angeles meeting with Sixers officials, the Philly star hit send on a two-word message that made it clear he was just like the rest of us. Sort of.

“Still UP,” the former MVP wrote.

Still UP

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 1, 2024

More than an hour later, after this scribe and so many millions of others had called it a night, the news finally came. George, the future Hall of Famer whom so many believed would end his career playing for the Clippers in his home region, had decided to help Embiid in his quest to bring a title to Philadelphia for the first time since 1983.

Less than six hours later, right about the time Clippers fans awoke to learn about George leaving town on a four-year, $212 million deal, the Sixers came to terms with All-Star guard and restricted free agent Tyrese Maxey on a five-year, $205 million deal. Just like that, in this offseason in which the league’s luxury tax system was scaring so many teams away from the star-studded approach that was all the rave with the last collective bargaining agreement, the most notorious big-game hunter of them all, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, had done it again.

Regardless of what comes next, this was the only path to Sixers survival in the Embiid era that might have been brought to an early end if they didn’t pull this off. There was no Plan B in sight to keep the big fella happy, no obvious way to gain ground on the champion Celtics, the Nova Knicks or even the Bucks, Cavs, Magic and Pacers.

There was George, who became available unexpectedly after the Clippers chose to avoid second-apron hell rather than give him the monstrous deal he was demanding, and then there was a deep abyss of Sixers unknowns that would have given Embiid every reason to consider pushing his way out. The roster consisted of Embiid, the 30-year-old who is only two summers away from his player option for the 2026-27 season, and an undrafted 22-year-old by the name of Ricky Council IV. And … that’s it.

This was by design, of course, as Morey decided to keep his books clear after the James Harden debacle of a year ago put such a stain on his already-complicated reputation and led to The Beard’s exit to the Clippers via trade. Morey was mostly quiet at the February trade deadline, when there were strong signs he had a particular high-profile player in mind for these summer months. And then, just when Clippers owner Steve Ballmer was hoping to bring back his superstar trio of Kawhi Leonard, Harden and George in time to open their fancy new arena in Inglewood, Calif., Morey filled that Harden vacancy in the most mafioso style imaginable.

He ruined the Clippers’ plans by giving George the max deal that Harden had wanted all along.

Say what you will about Morey, whose analytical ways and Dork-a-palooza legacy have been a point of contention in the Association for nearly two decades, but the man knows how to land a star. From the Houston days when he tried so boldly to take down the Golden State dynasty, pairing Harden with the likes of Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook before it all fell apart, to the Harden reunion in Philly two years ago, the strategy has always been the same. Target all of the one-percenters in the hoops universe, be it LeBron James or Chris Bosh or whoever else is on the top of everyone’s list at the moment, and play the odds that always get better when you employ the cream of the crop.

None of which is to say the Sixers are suddenly title contenders again. Not even close.

If the Kevin Durant–Devin Booker–Bradley Beal Phoenix Suns reminded us of anything last season, it’s that star power alone does not put you into that conversation. Chemistry will always matter, as does depth. To that end, the Sixers have also come to terms with guard Kelly Oubre on a two-year, $16.3 million deal and center Andre Drummond on a two-year, $10 million-plus contract.

There’s the health history/age factor with these Sixers too, as the 34-year-old George averaged just 47 games played in his four Clippers seasons before the last (when he played 74). Considering Embiid’s well-chronicled struggles on that front, that’s less than ideal.

The 23-year-old Maxey, meanwhile, will surely benefit from all those nights when the old-heads are able to go. As great as he was last season, when he averaged 25.9 points and 6.2 assists en route to winning the league’s Most Improved Player award, the midseason stretch without Embiid exposed the Sixers’ desperate need to add another star.

They went just 11-20 without Embiid from Jan. 27 to March 31, with his only game during that stretch coming in that Jan. 30 loss at Golden State in which the big man clearly should not have played. By the time he was back, with Embiid playing in just five regular-season games before the postseason hit, the Sixers could only muster two wins against the Knicks in that first-round loss that set the stage for George’s arrival.

“You get a guy in there that’s a position of need on the wing, a guy who can close out games, who opens the floor for Joel in that elbow area and for Tyrese on drives,” an Eastern Conference scout, granted anonymity so he could speak freely, said of the George addition. “But the one thing I saw with Tyrese when Embiid was out was that he’s not good enough to carry a team. So if Embiid’s not playing or injured or anything like that, you have another guy who can hold the fort down with Tyrese. But man, that’s a lot of money to give a guy that’s going to be 38 (when the deal ends). I don’t know. That’s the tough thing.”

As Embiid himself said in that priceless television moment recently, when he shared the ESPN stage with George and highlighted the need for the Sixers to get him some help, there’s only one goal here.

“Hopefully, this offseason we find a way to get better and add some pieces,” he said. “That’s the goal. You want to win a championship. All I care about is legacy. How can I find a way to accomplish what I want to accomplish? And that’s to win a championship. So whether I’ve got to find a way to build with what I have, and what’s put in place for us to win, I’m going to try my best to make it happen.”

It’s imperfect, to be sure. But unless they were going to put Embiid on the market, it was the best move available on the board. The Celtics had proved their worth on the NBA Finals stage. The Knicks made their move by adding Mikal Bridges. The Cavs are expected to re-sign Donovan Mitchell and keep building. The Bucks should be better in Year 2 with Damian Lillard. The Magic are coming. The list goes on, and Philly simply had to find a way to respond.

But with George in tow, Embiid and his Sixers are “Still Up” after all. And still alive in the Eastern Conference race.

Required Reading

(Top photo of Paul George and Joel Embiid: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)