Speaking in a segment on his podcast this week, All-Star swingman Paul George opened up on what went wrong in the series against the Dallas Mavericks. According to George, the loss was a result of a poor play style for the Clippers, who he believes played far too much hero ball toward the end of the season.
“We relied on too much isolation basketball,” said George. “When you don’t make shots, you don’t have a chance in hell to win. In Game 4 and our win in Game 1, we played a lot faster. It was a quick pace. That’s how you gotta be… The teams that are still playing right now are young, we made it easy for [Dallas] to take over.”
Paul George had a pretty solid season overall, averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game on 47.1% shooting. He was an All-Star for the ninth time in his career and helped lead the Clippers to a top-four seed in the Western Conference.
After years of trying and failing to make a long playoff run, the Clippers were hoping that this would finally be their year to make history and call themselves champions for the first time ever. Instead, just like in years past, it ended in disappointment after another Kawhi Leonard injury derailed their chances.
At the end of a long season, the Clippers are re-evaluating their situation and Paul George finds himself in full reflection over where it all went wrong. After so much time together, it’s a massive failure that Kawhi and Paul George have not won anything for the Clippers and it remains to be seen how the team will respond when it’s time to keep them together this offseason.
Paul George May Not Return To The Clippers
On the surface, Paul George has been nothing but loyal to the Clippers since his arrival back in 2019. He explicitly asked to be traded there from the Oklahoma City Thunder and he’s tried his best to make the most of it.
But after five years of disappointment with the Clippers, there are rumbling that both sides are open to a divorce this summer when George is up for free agency. Coming off another All-Star campaign, George wants nothing short of the max and he’s determined to hold out until he gets as much as he possibly can.
The Clippers, meanwhile, are still deciding whether George is worth keeping around to continue this track for the foreseeable future. If the Clippers are smart, they might consider getting out in front of this situation by getting what they can for their veterans before it’s too late.
As for potential destinations, the Lakers, Warriors, and Indiana Pacers have all been mentioned as interested parties. The Orlando Magic could also be in play since they have the most cap space out of any team.
Even at 34 years old, Paul George is good enough to change the NBA hierarchy and if he leaves the Clippers, it will set them back by many years. But after this loss to the Mavericks, there may be no options left but to try something new. Either way, unless something fundamentalism changes for the Clippers, it’s hard to see how they can break the cycle and come out victorious.
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