Paul George said he never wanted to leave Los Angeles but that negotiations on an extension with the Clippers started with a surprisingly “disrespectful” first offer.
George signed a four-year, $212-million max free agent deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. But the All-Star guard said on “Podcast P with Paul George” that he was willing to stay with the Clippers for the three-year, $150-million extension they gave Kawhi Leonard but with a no-trade clause attached. George said the Clippers wouldn’t do that or give him a four-year, $212-million contract if they wouldn’t attach a no-trade clause.
“I never wanted to leave LA,” George said on his podcast. “LA is home, this is where I wanted to finish at, and I wanted to work as hard as possible to win one in LA. That was the goal, to be here and be committed to LA. 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.'”
Before George agreed to terms with the Sixers at the start of free agency, the Clippers said in a statement that “the gap was significant” in talks to keep the guard in Los Angeles and that the organization had to be mindful of the new collective bargaining agreement, which made roster-building incredibly restrictive for tax-paying teams.
“Heading into this offseason, our roster was constructed [with] three great players 33 and over, two of whom could become free agents,” the Clippers said of Leonard, George and James Harden, who agreed to a two-year, $70 million free agent deal to stay with the team.
“We wanted to retain them on contracts that would allow us, under the constraints of the new CBA, to continue building the team. We negotiated for months with Paul and his representative on a contract that would make sense for both sides, and we were left far apart. The gap was significant.”
George detailed that initial offer from the Clippers came in October. The Clippers, who could have…
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