Windy’s offseason TOWER OF POWER + Update on Paul George surgery 😓 ‘GUT PUNCH TO 76ERS’ | NBA Today

Windy’s offseason TOWER OF POWER + Update on Paul George surgery 😓 ‘GUT PUNCH TO 76ERS’ | NBA Today

story that is developing as the 76 star Paul George. He underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure on his left knee on Monday to treat an injury he sustained during a recent workout. Now PG he played 41 games in his first of four years in Philadelphia last season. As we say good afternoon to our senior insider Sham Sharan who broke this story. Shams, when exactly did this injury occur and how will it impact the rest of PG’s off season here? Malikica, I’m told Paul George suffered the injury during an onc court workout last week and it led to him visiting a doctor on Friday and the decision was made to undergo arthroscopic surgery because the doctors felt like this would be an injury that would linger for a player that was never healthy all last year. Paul George’s season ended rehabbing from injections on groin and knee injuries. He had a finger injury during the season as well. And so now he starts rehab for this knee injury and he will be re-evaluated at the start of this upcoming training camp. But I am told both sides will be cautious with him. They want to see Paul George return to that full form Paul George. They just have not seen in Philadelphia. So I do expect both sides to be cautious from this injury that Paul George suffered last week. Okay. So this is essentially so that they can hopefully see that full strength Paul George that we’re all waiting for in Philadelphia that never quite came to fruition. Shams, thank you so very much. Please don’t go too far. This has been a busy busy offseason and we always want to keep tabs on that news. The Sixers big three though, Embiid, Maxi George Shams mentioned it. They played just 15 games together last season with Philadelphia going seven and eight with that trio sharing the floor together. Injuries really derailed a lot of teams in the East for this upcoming season. It is the most wide open that we have seen a conference in quite some time. And on paper, that should open things up for the 76ers, but that hasn’t quite been the case. Brian, what is it going to take for the Sixers to really contend here in this conference? Well, they need to have their three best players on their feet in the playoffs, but they have to get to the playoffs, which they didn’t last year because of these injuries. And Malikica, this is a gut punch to the 76ers. Shams was talking about seeing the doctor on Friday. It was just on Friday that Daryl my at a press conference in Las Vegas was talking about how Paul George was so much looking forward to getting onto the court to show the Philadelphia fans what he can do. And I assume later that day he got this news. He the words were still coming out of his mouth when this happened. I cannot believe this. And I will just say from being around the NBA for 20 plus years, I can just tell you there’s no such thing as minor knee surgery. Even the most basic procedure requires a big recovery. It is July. If you’re going to have an injury, you want it to happen in July, not in the spring. But another setback for this team that needs this team to be together to get some some momentum. Daryl has basically had to spend half of his press conference just giving injury updates. Yeah. To guys who are coming back from other knee surgeries. Jared McCain and Joel Embiid and now there’s another knee surgery. It’s crazy what’s going on there. Yeah. Look, if you want to turn the injuries off on 2K, then we can talk about the Sixers as a contender. But what what are we talking about here? The expectations were there last summer. They’re not there now because this is not a team that you can trust to put a healthy product on the court. I mean, what what’s the best realistic case for Joel Embiid? Is a 50 games and that’s what this team was built to do, right? I was with the 76ers at the beginning at training camp last summer or at the beginning of the season rather. And I was told by Paul George and Joel Embiid. Joel said, “I don’t expect to be an 82 game player anymore. He’s not even expecting to meet that 65 game. He’s won an MVP before. the team around him is supposed to be able to endure and with Jared McCain injuries and we saw what happened with Paul George, it just hasn’t been the case. And so you’re gonna load manage your way through a season with a group that’s barely played together and then suddenly somehow microwave chemistry for a deep playoff run that Joel Embiid has never yet been able to lead the Sixers on. There’s a whole lot of ifs here and that becomes even more difficult when you’re looking at, okay, do you want to put BJ Edge in the starting lineup for them? You can’t microwave that chemistry. There’s not years of of familiarity to rely on here. Yeah. And and with Paul George, man, I I thought about what happened with USA basketball 2014, and I’ve talked to him about how much that trickled down from that has affected his whole career. I’m always going to think what if with him with that injury. But I’m excited about VJ Edgecom. I think he could get back to the lineup tonight. Uh playing for the Sixers, but even that 76ers fans are already saying, “Welcome to the 76.” He’s special. I’ve been watching him since he played in the hoop summit last year. 28 and 10 the first game. Yes, it’s summer league, but he has a he has a different thing about him. It about him. And if they go with this three guard lineup, assuming these guys are healthy, Edgecomb, McCain, Maxi, I I think they’re pretty formidable if they could get some games out of Embiid with that lineup. I agree with you on them being a formidable lineup if they’re all out there. You can see here them shooting around BJ Edgecom and Jared McCain, who we didn’t get to see a whole lot either. Jared McCain was on a track to potentially be a rookie of the year candidate. He was when he went down with that injury. But when you’re thinking about the best case, Brian, for Joel Embiid and the 76ers this upcoming season, what does that look like? We talk about the Knicks. We talk about the Cavaliers on paper, we should be talking about the 76ers as well. Okay. So, I think what what you’re looking at because you know Embiid will not be right at the beginning of the season and now you know that Paul George will not be right at the beginning of the season. So, what you’re having to with, you know, VJ VK Edge, they were able to get this major talent infusion, with the return of some of their other young players who were bothered by injuries last year, that they will be able to at least be a top six team. And so, that what you’re hoping is that by the end of the season that people have worked through their issues, are off their um restrictions with various surgeries, and that they can be a top level team. But these are all hopes and suppositions and projections, Malikica. Like, yes, if that roster that you’re looking at there is mostly healthy by the spring, you look at the ability to win four out of seven, yeah, I would favor them in a lot of series, but I it’s, as McMahon said, it’s very difficult for me to make an honest projection when they played together for 15 games for the last whole season. The biggest five biggest questions. Number five, the Warriors. Will they take care of the rest of their business? I know some of their fans are frustrated at their lack of activity, but they could end up with three of the most significant uh free agents left on the board. Now, Jonathan Kinga, restricted free agent. That’s obviously a tensionfilled situation, but there’s a possibility they could get something done with him. And then there’s Al Horford, who’s probably the best veteran free agent on the market. He is lined up potentially to sign with the Warriors. And don’t be surprised if they can get Dean Anthony Melvin back, a guy they traded last year after he had a knee injury. Wait, wait, Brian. Number four, this patch from Kendrick Perkins. Will the Warriors finish business? I believe on this show there’s another way that we could frame what you do with business. Stand on business. Stand on business. All right. Number four, please continue. Sorry. All right. Number four. Don’t forget about Dear Fox. Remember, he’s got a big contract situation with the Spurs. They traded three first round picks for him last year at the trade deadline. And you know, they did that thinking they were going to get him under contract. Now, he cannot extend on a new deal until August 3rd. So, it would come after that. they can give him up to 230 million over the next four years, adding to the deal he’s the one year he’s got now. Will they be able to get him for less than that or will they give him the full max? That’s something that we’re going to definitely keep an eye on. Uh at number three, the the buyout we’ve been waiting for for longer than any other buyout and that’s Bradley Beal from the Phoenix Suns. I mean, the idea that you would buy out $200 million players in the same summer with him and Damen Lillard, um, is something I never thought I would ever see, but it’s coming a little bit normalized. Uh, Beal would have a lot of suitors if he gets to the open market. He’s going to have to take at least $14 million less for the buyout to be legal, which means he’s going to want to recoup that money. The Clippers are a team that you would think would be a strong candidate for him. Eventually, I think that’s going to get done, but I’ve been saying that for a week and a half. Um, all right. And then we got a couple of extensions to pay attention to. Kevin Durant, he got traded to the Houston Rockets, in case you forgot. That was a huge deal, arguably the biggest move of the summer. But Durant has only one year left on his contract. And there’s a big reason that the Rockets would want to get him locked into a deal that’s longer. Now, he can sign for up to two years and about 120 million. That’s huge money for a guy turning 37 before the start of the regular season. Would they try to find a deal that is for less than that as they try to fit in all their other big contracts? Keep an eye on that. Number one, the biggest contract extension of the summer. You know who it’s going to be. Lonic. Everybody knows from the Lakers camp that August 2nd is the first day that he can sign it. Um, I would not expect it to happen that early. There are various reasons why the timeline could be pushed to September. Don’t react negatively, Lakers fans, if you don’t see a deal right away. He’s playing for the Slovenian national team. Also, it behooves him probably to take a three-year contract extension. The Lakers can offer four and 230, but it makes sense for him to take a three-year extension for various long-term reasons, but anything that he would sign would be terrific for the Lakers. They’re going to obviously make that their offseason priority. This is important. Can you just underscore this for us? You said, “Don’t freak out,” which, you know, is is easier said than done when it comes to all of us NBA fans. Don’t freak out if August 2nd comes and goes and you don’t see something. Can you just explain? Yeah. So, he’s playing for the Slovenian national team at the European Championships, frequently called Eurob Basket, which is the most one of the most valuable uh tournament for the Europeans outside the Olympics. And he won the Euro Basket for Slovenia earlier in his career, probably the greatest moment of his career. They played six exhibition games leading up to the start on August 27th. and that it could they could go as late as September 14th, which means he may not be back into the US if the Slovenians get all the way to the end until late September. And you know, McMahon will tell you that in the past when he’s been playing for the national team, he has not done NBA business, including NBA contracts. So, he could certainly pledge his intention to sign with the Lakers, but do not freak out if you do not hear from Luca contractually until September. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Shams Charania joins Malika Andrews on NBA Today to provide the latest on 76ers forward Paul George following arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Then, Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon, and Marc J. Spears break down the biggest storylines of the NBA offseason.

0:00 Paul George recovery timeline
5:10 Best case scenario for 76ers
6:34 Windy Tower of Power!

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