Paul George's performance in the playoff series against the Mavericks will affect the future of the Clippers, very realistically.
The Los Angeles Clippers are in trouble, and when the playoffs get underway, it seems to be a recurring theme for this team. In fact, the Clippers looked very inconsistent heading into the playoffs, and then Kawhi Leonard's injury has become a fixture for them over the past few years.
As a result, the entire organization, as well as its ambitious championship aspirations, fell on the shoulders of Paul George, who is more than capable of being the team's number one option.
However, when George joined the Clippers in 2019, he came in with the intent of playing alongside Kawhi Leonard to create one of the best two-way partners in the playoffs that other league teams didn't know how to deal with.
With James Harden and Russell Westbrook on board, this year is the next step for the Clippers to return to the Western Conference Finals and have a chance to reach the NBA Finals for their first ever time.
Currently, the Clippers are preparing for Game 6 of their first-round series in Dallas on Friday night, and they face a 2-3 deficit and must win two games in a row to keep their season going.
At this very moment, Leonard is injured and Los Angeles look very bleak after suffering the heaviest loss of the series at home. Considering George's unknowns, especially his future tied to this series against the Dallas Mavericks.
On the brink of playoff elimination, George kept his faith as the leader of his team. He used to be in that position with the Clippers, and for George, he believes he can play more freely in the face of elimination on Friday night.
"I think the beauty is that as I get older, there's less stress, honestly. I think at the end of the day, you've been working hard all summer. You train for these moments, and if you fail, you fail, but you just go out there and do your best, do your best, and then you leave everything you can. Accept the results. George said Tomer Azarly via ClutchPoints.
"But as for the pressure, it's gone. I don't feel that pressure anymore. I'm not out to prove anything to anyone, but what I want to do is stand up for my teammates, like I said, leave everything behind, do your best, just try to be a leader and accept the results.
"I'm going to do everything I can in Game 6 to give us the best chance and lead the team to Dallas to a win. ”
George's confidence never dies, he is known for stepping up in big moments, and Friday night's game on the road is undoubtedly the most important game of his Clippers career, as it will affect what he can expect in the summer.
George turned 34 on Thursday. The nine-time All-Star still has plenty of energy, and he's still seen as one of the better players on both ends of the league. The free agent market for the upcoming summer is not expected to be too deep compared to past years.
The likes of Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James (if he opts out of contract) will be the biggest names available, but George also has a player option for the 2024-25 season. As of now, there is good reason to believe that George will drop his $48.8 million player option before free agency to secure a long-term, high-paying contract in a weak market.
This could be the last chance George has a chance to land a long-term, high-paying contract as his career comes to an end. George and the Clippers have lost every round of the Western Conference playoffs for the past five years. Although they had a close chance of reaching the NBA Finals in 2021, they failed to beat the Phoenix Suns without Kawhi Leonard.
Losing Friday night against the Mavericks would raise more questions about George's inevitable status as a free agent, and whether he will actually leave the Clippers is a decision that George needs to seriously consider, especially given the team's full commitment to keeping him by Leonard's side for the future.
In the latest contract extension talks, the Clippers and Leonard agreed in January to a $152 million contract extension that will keep him with the organization until the 2026-27 season. When all this happened, many thought that team owner Steve Ballmer would immediately turn his attention to George to offer him the exact same contract extension.
Four months later, the Clippers were on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs, but there was no word on a new contract for George.
Regardless of the outcome of the playoffs, the Clippers will usher in a new era of basketball next season, with Ballmer moving the team to the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
As a result of the move, they will no longer need to share facilities and arenas with the Lakers. The organization is also expected to struggle to keep Harden, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, with few other teams interested in him at the moment, and George is the piece of the championship puzzle they really don't understand.
After giving up more money than he could have gotten when signing a new contract, Leonard assured the Clippers that he wants to go all out to win the championship. It is clear that he is committed to the organization, and the same cannot be said about George at the moment.
Does George want to stay in Los Angeles or jump ship later in his career to join a stronger competitor?
It's been five years since the Clippers, especially if they were eliminated by the Mavericks in the playoffs, and it seems like their progress in the playoffs has been regressed. As the rest of the Western Conference gets younger, so does the list. Skepticism is a powerful emotion that comes when the Clippers face a 2-3 deficit in the playoffs.
One thing to say, George led the team to the second round and should be able to renew the Clippers with a maximum salary, and was eliminated in the first round, George should enter the free market.