When the Sixers signed Paul George to a four-year, $211.6 million max contract in free agency last summer, it initially looked like the biggest free-agent coup in franchise history. They pitched him on being the Moses Malone to Joel Embiid’s Julius Erving—the final missing piece in a championship puzzle that has proven elusive for 40-plus years.
That didn’t play out as planned, to say the least.
George missed the first five games of the season after suffering a bone bruise in his left knee during a preseason
game against the Atlanta Hawks. He made his eagerly anticipated debut in a last-second road loss to the Phoenix Suns, although he suffered a second bone bruise in his left knee a few weeks later. He then suffered tendon damage to his pinky finger on his non-shooting left hand in late January and dealt with left groin soreness that sidelined him after the All-Star break.
In total, George played only 41 games last season and averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.3 made three-pointers and 1.8 steals in 32.5 minutes per game while shooting 43.0 percent overall and 35.8 percent. That was a far cry from his final season with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2023-24, when he averaged 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.3 threes and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 47.1 percent overall and 41.3 percent from deep across 74 games.
Given George’s injury history—the 2023-24 campaign is the only time since 2018-19 that he hasn’t missed at least 16 games in a season—the Sixers couldn’t have reasonably expected him to play 70-plus games last year. He likely won’t clear that bar this year, either, as he’s already recovering from left knee surgery after suffering an injury during an offseason workout. As is Sixers tradition, we have no idea what the injury was, although he’s reportedly set to be re-evaluated prior to training camp.
With that in mind… is there any hope that George bounces back this year and provides the Sixers some bang for their buck? Or did they just light $200-plus million on fire last offseason?
Let’s go with the glass-half-full version first. Although George was far less impactful on offense than the Sixers expected, he was still one of the league’s better defenders despite his laundry list of injuries. George isn’t an elite wing stopper like Herb Jones, but he’s still a marked upgrade over anyone not named Jimmy Butler or Robert Covington whom the Sixers have trotted out at that position in recent years. (And Covington did most of his damage off the ball.)
Daryl Morey has also repeatedly pointed out in recent months that the Sixers didn’t sign George with the expectation that he could be the No. 1 option on an elite offense anymore. They expected Embiid to be their offensive focal point and to continue drawing double-teams in the paint, which would help George feast off open looks on the perimeter. Without Embiid commanding extra defensive attention, teams could defend George differently than they’ll be able to when (if?) Embiid is healthy.
Without knowing the specifics of George’s latest knee injury, it’s at least within the realm of possibility that Embiid’s return will help the rest of the roster fall back into place. George can’t single-handedly carry the Sixers, but he might be able to keep them afloat in non-Embiid minutes against bench-heavy lineups.
During George’s five seasons with the Clippers, he shot 39.7 percent from deep on 7.9 attempts per game. Save for an injury-shortened 31-game season in 2021-22, during which he shot only 35.4 percent from three-point range, he hasn’t shot as poorly as he did last year since his rookie campaign with the Indiana Pacers in 2010-11.
Is he the latest player to be afflicted with the Sixers Curse—aka, forgetting how to shoot immediately upon his arrival in Philadelphia? Possibly. But his career history suggests he’s due for a bounce-back year as a shooter, particularly if Embiid and the Sixers’ young backcourt can help generate more open looks for him.
Here’s the breakdown of his shot attempts last year:
Now, compare that to his final season with the Clippers:
George shot significantly worse from basically every range last season. He went from hitting 46.0 percent of his open looks (the closest defender within 4-6 feet of him) and 46.7 percent of his wide-open looks (with no defender within six feet) to only 40.1 percent and 43.2 percent, respectively.
Lest you think the 2023-24 campaign was an anomaly, here’s how he shot on open attempts every year since he joined the Clippers in 2019:
That’s the glass-half-full version. Now, let’s do the glass-half-empty one.
What if George’s drop-off last season wasn’t solely due to injuries and/or Embiid’s absence? Father Time is the only thing that remains undefeated in sports, and George just turned 35 in May. The final year or two of his contract figured to age poorly, but what if the Sixers guessed wrong about his aging curve?
Injuries are the other big concern, obviously. He already dealt with injuries to three separate body parts last year. He had to get pain injections to play through his pinky injury, which he later confirmed was a torn tendon, and he had a torn adductor as well. He might not be quite as snakebit by injuries this season, but he’s already starting off on the wrong foot in that regard.
So, is there hope for George to have a bounce-back year? If both he and Embiid are healthier than they were last season, absolutely. Will he ever live up to his $50-plus million annual salary, though? The early returns aren’t looking great there.
