NBA Gametime reacts Paul George joining Embiid; Tyrese Maxey signs max contract extension with 76ers

NBA Gametime reacts Paul George joining Embiid; Tyrese Maxey signs max contract extension with 76ers

TV welcome to Free Agent fever Bill K alongside Ryan MCD Greg Anthony Chris Haynes the caffeine it is Flowing this morning my question to you sir how many hours of sleep are you on right now uh about three and a half which is pretty good for this time of year right so it’s expected that’s not bad yeah nope not bad Ryan’s got a little bed back there you you just live here right yeah I just hibernate here like a bat in the closet down the hall and I come out when whenever the lights come on right J you you look like you’re pretty good yeah I’m fine I don’t I don’t have to follow all the the mations that these two have I got seven hours lasted I feel real good right now I comment on what they say uh no lots of news to come obviously this is a big day uh and Paul George setting the tone right away four years $212 million I mean set the stage for us what happened here yeah well listen it it was obviously a bad breakup between Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers he threatened for months that this could be a possibility that he could leave and he definitely show look at Jo be Jo think your job here that was at 2:04 in the morning by the way so he knew potentially something wa wait that was that was a DM to Chris too yeah I spoke with Joel a little bit he’s he’s excited but no I mean listen you think ultimately what the Clippers did was they held firm to the parameters of a contract that they were willing to give Paul George Paul George sought a fourth year the Clippers did not acquest to those demands and Paul George left now there was reports that he was going to meet with Orlando which I I it didn’t sound right to me cuz I I knew Orlando really liked kcp and would be going for him once free8 open so the only other team out there that could pay him what Paul wanted was the Philadelphia 76ers so ends up there they’re are definitely a title contendent team out there wi hole and healthy so um yeah it was uh a situation where I I think a lot of people including myself you would asked me a week ago if I think think this was going to happen I would have told you no and with the Clipper situation just explain it if they had signed Paul George the money he wanted they’d be in the second apron if they made that deal with the Warriors that would also be in a s similar situation right yeah the second apron to bill is the most punitive level over the luxury tax it really inhibits your flexibility you don’t get use of exceptions you can’t combine contracts in outgoing trades and there are a number of other things that restrict player movement so la I agree with Chris I thought at the end of the day la compromise and either give Paul George a fully guaranteed or even a partially guaranteed fourth year to bridge the gap they didn’t they held the line they did a three-year extension which was slightly less than the max with Kawhi Leonard last January and then they got James Harden back on a two-year $70 million deal the second year is a player option so la is prioritized flexibility and uh we’ll see how they are because they still don’t have a ton of money to spend they probably have a mid-level to use but they don’t have an easy way to replace Paul George and the top players in free agency have gone off the board pretty quickly and quick question whether with three or fouryear deal did we still have the same parameters in place for the Clippers like does it change the second Acron scenario if they don’t give him the fourth year no it it would impact it would be an effect either way Greg because uh it’s it’s next year’s salary is the concern so next year’s salary be the same um it’s just that they didn’t want to get locked in with a player who they worried about declining as he approaches his late 30s Paul George and the end of Steel I think could be 373 8 years old they had those concerns so ultimately they’re going to run it back I guess with Kawai with Harden I don’t have any concrete effing but if that was the case is that a valid reason to hold your stance and not give Paul that fourth year yeah great great question Chris I think that’s a reality of team building in the NBA in 2024 you want to be principled you want to be disciplined they got Kawai to take less to your point he could have taken a four-year Max he took three he also took close to his max salary per year but slightly less than that so he did the team a favor in a way Paul George was unwilling to do that so I think the way to handle his a front office is you go to kawhai Leonard over the last couple weeks when you sense Paul George being adamant about that fourth year potentially leaving La say look kawhai I know what we did with you but we’re going to have to do something different to get Paul George and here’s the list of replacement players if Paul George walks out the door we’re looking at smaller exceptions in minimum contracts our team is a lot worse I know you know we value you we we think you’re a better play player um we would pay you more if we could but we need to pay Paul this much money to keep him in La I don’t know if those conversations happened or not Chris but that is a reality of NBA locker rooms which you know as well as anybody there is a hierarchy in a petting or pecking order and so I think Clippers may have worried about upsetting Kawai their best player if they gave PG more years and more money well but but also like from what I understand and Chris you would know this more Paul George didn’t even know about kawai’s extension until after it was signed so you talk about that good faith that that wasn’t very much of a showing a good faith to one of your Premier players one of your cornerstones the fact that he finds out like we all found out about kawai’s extension so I think that probably started uh this thing going off the rails a little bit and the reality is too like Paul still had all the leverage because he knew he had another team that wanted him and I remember my agent used to tell me when I was coming they say listen you only need one team to want you and in free agency you only need one other team to want you and so ultimately Paul George not only does he get that max deal he gets to go to a team that has legit chance to win a championship next year and he also fractures the team that he left uh in the same uh uh way and so like it’s going to be interesting how the Clippers sell this to their fans moving forward how the fan base reacts if they’re not a contender next year now tyum may do a phenomenal job and have them right in the mix we you know we can’t discount them they still got a lot of talent James Harden is going to be asked to do more now do some of those other young players step up with given the opportunity and more responsibility we don’t know that but as of today I think we’d all agree that the Clippers aren’t the team that we thought they could be had Paul George resigned and we’re going to get more into the Clippers in a moment but uh five years $24 million also for Tyrese Maxi making this an even bigger than that’s an extension uh with the Philadelphia 76ers uh maybe just talk about the Paul George fit and then Maxi and what you saw from him this year well he gives him I think he’s a perfect fit because they’ve got lead guard star potential with maxi who’s continuing to improve you’ve got as dominant a big as this game has in Joel embiid and then you’ve got that great Wing Defender who can create who can facilitate who can also defend at a high level now having said that the reality is this Paul George and Kawhi Leonard we’ve talked so much about their two-way capability they’re not the Defenders that they were four or five years ago uh but they’re still I think good enough Defenders at that Wing position and why is that also critically important who are they going to have to beat they’re going to have to beat the best Wing duo in the NBA and with the Boston Celtics and Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum so you had to go and get a guy that could not only compete defensively at the wing but also puts the same level of pressure from an offensive standpoint on the Boston Celtics so I I think it’s a huge get and it’s not just that they got him guys right they they went out they brought back Andre Drummond at at the backup center position which I think is huge they’ve made some other moves that I think have really fortified their roster this is a vastly improved team from a season ago I think it’s one that Nick nurse is going to enjoy coaching a lot more uh because of the moves they made I think this team is much more better suited to have an impact brought back Kelly UB as well which I thought was a really important get Eric Gordon signed as well so Ryan they really retooled this roster they absolutely have and Tyrese Maxi going along with the plan is something that really benefited the Philadelphia 76ers he was extension eligible last off season he didn’t get an extension and it’s easy to say well just play it out bet on yourself but as you know Greg from a players perspective a lot could go wrong you could get injured you could not play as well uh this kid played great he was the most improved player in the league he was an All-Star he bet on himself you see the numbers there 5 years 204 million and him agreeing to utilize his low salary cap hold at 13 million which is more than 22 less than his first year Max salary 35 million that let Philadelphia go get Paul George it lets them get Kelly UB Andre Drummond and do another number of other things to improve the roster um and and for the Philadelphia 76ers ownership in front office getting Paul George really helps their credibility too because it’s a tough sale if you go to a player and says hey wait trust us be patient and then you sign a bunch of average guys and role players they went and got Paul George with that so good business all around a great night for the 76ers and uh they’re not done we saw the roster there they’ll try to get other veterans to continue to fill out the rest of their squad yeah who else do they go to get well with a har bone Maxi real quick you know the Sixers didn’t view him as a max player last season and he would have gotten an offer around five years 140 million so he like you said bet on himself and ended up getting a nice payday now as far as how they feel at the roster Kelly UB is somebody who they brought back as well he’s great addition to that team um he’s looking to be projected into that starting lineup to add versatility and length um Nicholas baton I don’t believe is returning back and so right now it’s always great for a team you know when you get two Superstar players but when you get now you could say three star players on a squad now you start adding guys on the minimum deals and guys on minimum Deals they like going into a winning situation because guys guys who are on minimum deals they’re they’re taking a obviously they’re taking a pay cut but the hope is that if you have a winning season then you can next offseason recoup that and and get a nice pay raise so there’s still a lot of time you know you you got guys out there like um I’m not necessarily um uh let me see you got buddy Hill back out there you got uh Malik Beasley out there you have uh Jay Crowder out there you you know so you got guys like that who fit the mod of you know just trying to make the team a little bit more robust and deeper and and add some veteran leadership so the Sixers they have a lot they can do yeah early on the Sixers Big Winners so far in NBA free agency uh with uh those moves right there meanwhile [Music] it’s for for for for for for for fore spee spee for for for for for there don’t much

NBA Gametime reacts to Paul George joining Embiid; Tyrese Maxey signs max contract extension with 76ers