The Paul George situation reportedly just took a major turn.
Per ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Clippers star has decided to decline his $48.7 million option and enter free agency. Noting, “He’s planning to set meetings with cap space teams and the Clippers beginning Sunday night. An opt-in/trade scenario is now gone.”
The Golden State Warriors were rumored to be pushing hard to land George but now that’s looking like an impossibility.
George and Kawhi Leonard had been the face of the Clippers since joining forces back in 2019 but the team hasn’t seen the postseason success many expected due in large part to some unfortunate injury luck.
Now its possible that PG-13 plays for his fourth NBA team entering season No. 15 if he and LAC aren’t able to come to an agreement.
Earlier this week, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank gave his comments on the situation. Telling ESPN.com:
We love Paul. We very much want to retain Paul, but we also very much understand and respect the fact this is a business. We hope Paul’s decision is to be here. He’s been awesome. He’s been an All-Star. He’s one of the best two-way players in the league. He’s a terrific person. He’s got great family, so we hope he’s here but also respect the fact that if he chooses to opt out, that’s his choice. He’s earned it and we’ll see how things play out.