As frustrating as Tuesday night might have been for Sixers fans, and as disappointing as it is to drop both games of a back-to-back, Philly is off to about as good a start as fans could have asked for.
The Sixers return home at 5-3, with a couple of those wins coming over Boston and Orlando, playoff teams from last season.
While we don’t have an official return date for Paul George, the veteran wing seems to be progressing well and could be back as soon as the weekend when the team returns to Xfinity Mobile Arena for a back-to-back against Toronto and Detroit. A narrative appears to be emerging that while the youth movement has certainly given fans reason to be optimistic, George can still help the team in a smaller role.
I’m not writing this to disagree with that sentiment. There’s certainly a world in which George plays a 3-and-D role well enough for Nick Nurse to start him on a regular basis and for the Sixers to continue winning games with George playing that role. But I am writing this to implore every Sixers fan not to treat that kind of season from George as a success. Are we really about to stoop to the level of treating Paul George the same as Rockets fans probably treated Trevor Ariza while they were contending a decade ago?
That’s not to say George should look like an All-NBA performer during his season debut. It will take time for him to integrate into what the Sixers are doing and to get right physically. But once he’s up to speed, the franchise and fanbase should demand more of him than being a role player.
George is 35 years old and turns 36 in early May, a time when we’d all love for the Sixers to still be playing basketball. As you all know by now, George remains under contract in Philadelphia for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. His contract figures to be difficult to move. When George signed in Philadelphia, the thought process seemed to be that the Sixers had no choice but to pursue George, the best free agent of a bad crop in the summer of 2024, to walk right into the cap space vacated by the expiring contract of Tobias Harris.
Anytime you operate out of desperation, which is essentially the spot Daryl Morey and company were in entering the 2024 season with few max-level alternatives to George, you’re probably going to be a ripe target for agents. Sure enough, George’s representatives secured one last big contract for him and he is now signed into his late 30s. Once George put pen to paper, most Sixers fans were probably realistically hoping for two more All-Star caliber seasons from George and, had that happened, they’d be willing to live with him deteriorating in the final two seasons of the four-year deal.
I’m not sure what to call 2024-25 for George, but it certainly wasn’t an All-Star caliber season. So, now, just because the Sixers have some exciting young players who appear to be maturing and giving some hope for this season, we’re going to recalibrate our expectations for George when he does step on the floor?
The only way anyone should be happy with George taking on a lesser role this season is if he’s willing to give about 65% of his salary for the season back to the Sixers. When that doesn’t happen, just realize that you’re willfully accepting George becoming one of the most expensive role players in NBA history. In a sports town as intense and hard on its stars as Philly is, that doesn’t seem to be a hallmark of the fanbase’s identity.
Even in the event that George does have success in whatever role is there for him this season, everyone is likely going to be hoping the team can shed the final two years of his contract next summer — and rightfully so. When you’re on the contract George is on, it’s not OK to experience a wide range of performance outcomes. If Kelly Oubre is the best player on the floor for Philadelphia one night and then goes 0-for-8 from three the next night, that’s one thing. On some nights, Adem Bona will look like a tenacious defensive anchor and rack up the blocks, and on other nights, Bona will look like a G-Leaguer. This is acceptable for these kinds of players given the financial commitment being made to them.
There is not a similar acceptable performance from George this season. The standard should be just as high as it was when he showed up in Philly. If that’s not met in 2025-26, this season will simply be another negative mark on an already ugly era for Paul George as a Philadelphia 76er.
